Fair, practical rules still high on lobby's agenda
Commodity prices and interest rates play a huge role in shaping farmer confidence, but these factors are beyond their control, says Federated Farmers dairy chair Richard McIntyre.
A large group of opposition politicians met agriculture sector leaders in Waikato this week in what Federated Farmers describe as building a “team ag approach”.
Details of the meetings were unveiled by Federated Farmers president Wayne Langford in the farmer lobby’s weekly email newsletter to members.
Labour MPs met representatives of DairyNZ, Beef + Lamb, Groundswell, Rural Women, and other farming organisations over two days and did farm visits, according to Langford.
He says this was about building on that “Team Ag approach” and pulling together a united voice sharing the same message to improve outcomes for farmers.
“I know this might sound like a strange thing for us to be doing given Labour are currently in opposition, so I wanted to take this opportunity to explain what we have been trying to achieve.
“Most farmers will agree that the last few years under a Labour Government were incredibly challenging for our rural communities.
“We faced a long list of regulations that we didn’t feel were practical, fair or affordable — and as a result farmer confidence hit record lows.
“I don’t think any of us want to find ourselves in that position ever again, and that really got me reflecting on how we came to be in that position in the first place.”
Langford points out that part of the problem was that Feds didn’t have strong relationships between Labour and farmers, “and there wasn’t a lot of trust or understanding”.
“That’s why we’ve really invested some time this week trying to establish relationships, grow their understanding of farming, and hopefully build some trust.”
So, how did the meetings go?
Langford says they didn’t agree on every issue.
“Was it all sunshine and rainbows? Definitely not. But was the time spent together worthwhile? Absolutely.
“We were never going to resolve all our issues overnight, but it feels like we made some really good progress.”
Commodity prices and interest rates play a huge role in shaping farmer confidence, but these factors are beyond their control, says Federated Farmers dairy chair Richard McIntyre.
DairyNZ is supporting a proposed new learning model for apprenticeships and traineeships that would see training, education, and pastoral care delivered together to provide the best chance of success.
Two agritech companies have joined forces to help eliminate manual entry and save farmer time.
The recent squabble between the Cook Islands and NZ over their deal with China has added a new element of tension in the relationship between China and NZ.
The world is now amid potentially one of the most disruptive periods in world trade for a very long time.
Former Westland Milk boss Richard Wyeth is taking over as chief executive of Canterbury milk processor Synlait from May 19.
OPINION: Henry Dimbleby, author of the UK's Food Strategy, recently told the BBC: "Meat production is about 85% of our…
OPINION: For the last few weeks, we've witnessed a parade of complaints about New Zealand's school lunch program: 'It's arriving…