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Agriculture Minister Damien O'Connor.
Don't get hoodwinked by political 'wannabes'.
That was the message from Agriculture Minister Damien O'Connor, speaking at the recent Federated Farmers annual conference. He warned farmers to beware what other political parties and ginger groups have been saying on environmental regulations.
O'Connor claimed it would be irresponsible for any leader - be they farmer or political - to give confused signals or not help farmers to get the right information in a political debate.
He added that some farmers were confused about the message they were getting and noted that understanding the 'why' was very important. O'Connor told the conference that if he was faced with a situation where he didn't understand the reason for change, he'd be reluctant to change.
He conceded that farmers are stressed, having to deal with climate change, geopolitical disruption, rising on-farm costs and a host of other challenges.
"Customer and consumer expectations are changing," O'Connor claimed. "All our major customers - such as Nestle, McDonalds, Tesco and Waitrose - have corporate targets of reducing their global emissions and they are looking to their suppliers, such as us, to do our bit."
O'Connor says regulations are backstops and the vast majority of people are ahead of the game and doing the right thing.
Turning to trade, O'Connor says successful trade agreements are not just about trade. He says NZ brings to trade not just value but also values, and this approach has been behind the success of FTAs with China, the UK and soon the EU.
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Farmers are welcoming the announcement of two new bills to replace the under-fire Resource Management Act.
The Government has announced it will immediately roll over all resource consents for two years, with legislation expected to pass under urgency as early as this week.
Federated Farmers has launched a new campaign, swapping "The Twelve Days of Christmas" for "The Twelve Pests of Christmas" in an effort to highlight the most troublesome farm pests.
The biggest reform of local government in more than 35 years is underway.
Former Agriculture Minister and Otaki farmer Nathan Guy has been appointed New Zealand’s Special Agricultural Trade Envoy (SATE).
Alliance Group has commissioned a new heat pump system at its Mataura processing plant in Southland.
Fonterra has slashed another 50c off its milk price forecast as global milk flows shows no sign of easing.
Meat processors are hopeful that the additional 15% tariff on lamb exports to the US will also come off.
Fears of a serious early drought in Hawke’s Bay have been allayed – for the moment at least.
There was much theatre in the Beehive before the Government's new Resource Management Act (RMA) reform bills were introduced into Parliament last week.
OPINION: The release of the Natural Environment Bill and Planning Bill to replace the Resource Management Act is a red-letter day…
OPINION: Federated Farmers has launched a new campaign, swapping ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’ for ‘The Twelve Pests of Christmas’ to…
