Government Mulling Plan Change 1 Intervention
The Government is looking at intervening on behalf of Waikato farmers who face new regulations around agricultural land use while Resource Management Act (RMA) reforms are underway.
The Government has announced $60,000 to provide one-off grants of $1,000 to each of the 60 New Zealand Young Farmers (NZYF) clubs across the country.
Announcing the funding, Agriculture Todd McClay says that NZYF do a huge amount of good in rural communities.
"We want to support their efforts to help them do even more,” McClay says.
He says the funding will help back the important work of small volunteer committees, which drive organisation, membership, and event planning at each club.
"The committees are essential to the club’s ongoing success, their ability to attract new members and event sponsorship, and provide support to young people in rural communities.”
NZYF is a non-profit with a long history of connecting, nurturing, and empowering young people in rural communities.
“Its clubs provide a place for young people to develop leadership skills, network with like-minded people, and make lifelong friends,” McClay says.
“The organisation is part of the fabric of rural New Zealand and will mark its centenary next year. This funding will be a boost for clubs planning local celebrations.”
McClay says the Government is also backing the wellbeing of young people in rural communities through the Rural Wellbeing Fund.
“NZ Young Farmers was one of 18 community-based organisations and initiatives to receive funding through the Government’s Rural Wellbeing Fund.
“It’s receiving $585,000 to ramp up new initiatives, focusing on physical, mental, and financial wellbeing, leveraging its network of 60 clubs,” McClay adds.
“The primary industries are the backbone of the economy, supporting local jobs and communities, and this Government is committed to building the future for the sector to succeed.”
New Zealand dairy farmers are set to be the first in the world to receive access to a new digital physical milk pricing tool that enables them to fix the price for their physical milk.
State farmer Pāmu is opening its farm gates this summer in an effort to give the rural sector the opportunity to see how large-scale, multi-system farming is delivering productivity and profitability across New Zealand.
A five-year study has found that the cost of reducing emissions without technology may be significant and unsustainable for Northland dairy farmers.
DairyNZ says Waikato farmers need certainty on Plan Change 1, but they say that certainty must be matched with practical, workable rules and a clear transition that doesn't get ahead of the new resource management system currently under review.
While the Government has moved quickly to make commercial hauliers' lot easier during the current fuel crisis, they appear to be stuck in the creep box when it comes to the agricultural industry.
Waikato farmers have been told that the Government’s new planning system legislation and the region’s Plan Change 1 (PC1) “won’t mesh together very well”.

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