increase font size
Katie Milne.
New Zealand farming leaders are in close contact with their Australian counterparts as bushfires ravage farms across the ditch.
Federated Farmers president Katie Milne says she’s in contact with her National Farmers Federation president Fiona Simson.
“We are working through what’s most useful help,” she told Rural News.
“One saving grace for some is that there isn’t much to burn due to prolonged drought in some areas.”
Milne says NZ farmers can support organisations like BlazeAid, a volunteer-based organisation working with families and individuals in rural Australia after natural disasters such as fires and floods.
“BlazeAid and breakaways looks to be the go,” she says. “We offered accommodation over a year ago when drought was bad, but had little uptake.
“Timing is always an issue in disasters as people want to get into putting their lives back together – be it fire or drought.”
Milne says some NZ farmers are part of rural fire parties who often travel abroad to help fight bushfires.
Simson says many Australian farmers had lost homes, livestock and infrastructure.
 |
|---|
|
National Farmers Federation president Fiona Simson. |
“While we don’t know exact numbers yet, there has been a significant loss of livestock in parts of the country, most recently in areas such as northern Victoria and the south coast of NSW,” she says.
“The most impacted sectors include the dairy sector where large parts of the NSW south coast, and north eastern Victoria and continue to be under threat.
“There are also reported losses in the beef and sheep sectors in upper Murray region of Victoria, lower Riverina and Snowy Mountain areas.”
Simson says the current bushfire situation is unprecedented.
Simson, who farms on Liverpool Plains in northwest NSW, has also been impacted.
“She has been lucky on her place as they saved 600ha of wheat crop that’s ready to harvest, when 40ha of it burnt when set on fire by dry lightning,” Milne told Rural News.
“She said it was a miracle they could save it and a miracle it has grown well enough due to drought. It’s pretty bloody awful.”
The bushfires are delivering another blow to Australia’s dairy industry, already reeling from the effects of drought.
ASX-listed dairy group Bega Cheese faces a further tightening in supply: about 30 to 40 of its farmers are affected around the towns of Bega and Cobargo.
Shaughn Morgan, chief executive of the industry group Dairy Connect, says some farmers are reporting they had lost the bulk of their livestock.
Morgan says the priority now was to fully assess the damage in the area and provide feed to farmers who needed it.
The NSW Department of Primary Industries estimates about 3900 head of livestock have been killed or euthanised due to bushfires in the state this summer.
Academic Dr Mike Joy and his employer, Victoria University of Wellington have apologised for his comments suggesting that dairy industry CEOs should be hanged for contributing towards nitrate poisoning of waterways.
A comment by outspoken academic Dr Mike Joy suggesting that dairy industry leaders should be hanged for nitrate contamination of drinking/groundwater has enraged farmers.
Federated Farmers says the final report into banking competition is a significant step forward for rural New Zealand - and a vindication of the farming sector's concern.
Farmer lobby group Federated Farmers has announced it is supporting a new Member’s Bill which it says could bring clarity to New Zealand farmers and save millions in legal costs.
Federated Farmers says climate protest group Greenpeace is manufacturing outrage and attempting to scare New Zealanders with headlines that have no basis in science.
Kiwis are wasting less of their food than they were two years ago, and this has been enough to push New Zealand’s total household food waste bill lower, the 2025 Rabobank KiwiHarvest Food Waste survey has found.
OPINION: Sir Lockwood Smith has clearly and succinctly defined what academic freedom is all about, the boundaries around it and the responsibility that goes with this privilege.
DairyNZ says its plantain programme continues to deliver promising results, with new data confirming that modest levels of plantain in pastures reduce nitrogen leaching, offering farmers a practical, science-backed tool to meet environmental goals.
'Common sense' cuts to government red tape will make it easier for New Zealand to deliver safe food to more markets.
Balclutha farmer Renae Martin remembers the moment she fell in love with cows.
Academic freedom is a privilege and it's put at risk when people abuse it.
OPINION: For years, the ironically named Dr Mike Joy has used his position at Victoria University to wage an activist-style…
OPINION: A mate of yours truly has had an absolute gutsful of the activist group SAFE.
