Roadmap set to double hort exports by 2035
It's critical that the horticulture sector works together as part of a goal to double the sector’s exports by 2035.
National’s spokesperson for Rural Communities Nicola Grigg claims the Government’s financial policy is piling pressure on the primary industries.
She says the Government has unleashed unprecedented levels of spending in last week’s Budget, with more than $9.5 billion in new spending forecast for 2022 alone.
“To put it in context, they are now spending 68% more, or an extra $51 billion per year, since coming into office,” Grigg says.
“This out of control spending is putting huge pressure on the economy and is driving inflation to a record 30-year high, with the cost of farm inputs rising by 9.8% since the March quarter last year.
“This week we saw another 50 basis point jumps in the OCR [Official Cash Rate], the first back to back 50 point increase since the OCR was introduced – which has never happened before and will effectively double interest rates compared with last year.”
Grigg says a farm carrying $4 million in borrowings that sees a 100 basis point increase in their interest rates would have to pay an additional $40,000 per year in interest costs.
“On top of that, there are more than a dozen new law and regulatory changes being piled onto farmers by the Government, so it’s all starting to add up for our rural communities,” she says.
“Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor’s Budget 2022 press release announced a $1 billion spend on primary industries, but this really needs close scrutiny. It is full of vague waffle like $118 million for ‘advisory services’ to ‘support farmers’, $40 million for Stuart Nash’s ‘transformation’ of the forestry and wood processing sectors, as well as $32 million for Meka Whaitiri’s fund to crack down on farmers with increased compliance, enforcement and on-farm inspections.”
Grigg says the cost of doing business on-farm is sky-rocketing.
“For this sector to continue to carry the New Zealand economy during these turbulent times, the Government needs to rein in spending on compliance and ‘advice’ and, instead, cut costs for the most productive sector of this country.”
An independent report, prepared for Alliance farmer shareholders is backing the proposed $250 million joint venture investment by Irish company Dawn Meats Group.
Whangarei field service technician, Bryce Dickson has cemented his place in John Deere’s history, becoming the first ever person to win an award for the third time at the annual Australian and New Zealand Technician of the Year Awards, announced at a gala dinner in Brisbane last night.
NZPork has appointed Auckland-based Paul Bucknell as its new chair.
The Government claims to have delivered on its election promise to protect productive farmland from emissions trading scheme (ETS) but red meat farmers aren’t happy.
Foot and Mouth Disease outbreaks could have a detrimental impact on any country's rural sector, as seen in the United Kingdom's 2000 outbreak that saw the compulsory slaughter of over six million animals.
The Ministry for the Environment is joining as a national award sponsor in the Ballance Farm Environment Awards (BFEA from next year).
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