Feds make case for rural bank lending probe
Bankers have been making record profits in the last few years, but those aren’t the only records they’ve been breaking, says Federated Farmers vice president Richard McIntyre.
Dairy farmers in the lower North Island also faced power outages after a series of earthquakes this morning.
Federated Farmers dairy chairman, Andrew Hoggard who farms in the Manawatu, says the power went off at his farm immediately after the quake and didn’t come back on until 6.30am.
He says when the power went off he looked at the Powerco website and found that there were massive electricity cuts across the Taranaki, Whanganui, Manawatu and Wairarapa regions.
Hoggard used his generator to start milking and finally switched to mains power when it came on at 6.30am
He says he’s spoken to farmers in Culverdon but says so far he’s heard no reports of farmers being unable to milk. The issue he says could be the roads and the ability for farmers in places such as Kaikoura to get their milk to a dairy factory.
Hoggard says he’s not expecting to hear reports of damage until later in the day. He says if there problems, farmers will be too busy fixing things to get on the phone and report the problem to him.
Powerco which run the electricity network in the lower North Island says the 7.5 magnitude earthquake caused power to be cut around 30,000 properties on the company’s electricity network.
Regions worst affected were Taranaki (13,000), Whanganui (8,000), Manawatu (7,000) and Wairarapa (2,000).
Powerco network coordination manager Dean Stevenson says restoration efforts were progressing extremely well, with just 1,800 customers without supply at 8am.
He said the earthquake had caused overhead power lines to clash, triggering supply to automatically shut off. Stevenson says each affected line needs to be physically checked by field staff before power can be turned on again.
Bankers have been making record profits in the last few years, but those aren’t the only records they’ve been breaking, says Federated Farmers vice president Richard McIntyre.
The 2023-24 season has been a roller coaster ride for Waikato dairy farmers, according to Federated Farmers dairy section chair, Mathew Zonderop.
Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) director general Ray Smith says job cuts announced this morning will not impact the way the Ministry is organised or merge business units.
Scales Corporation is acquiring a number of orchard assets from Bostock Group.
Family and solidarity shone through at the 75 years of Ferdon sale in Otorohanga last month.
The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) has informed staff it will cut 391 jobs following a consultation period.
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