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Hold your local council candidates to account on costs and services: and if you think the voice of farmers is not being heard, consider standing for election yourself.
That’s the underlying message to rural people in the Federated Farmers 2019 local body elections guide, Platform: Feds on Local Government, released at the Feds’ AGM in Wellington this week.
"The quality of local government in rural communities can mean the difference between dodgy roads and safer ones, and many thousands of dollars in rates," Federated Farmers President Katie Milne says.
"Rates are among the largest overheads for many farms. Because of the outdated and unfair reliance on property value-based rates, it’s not unusual for a farmer’s annual rates bill to top $20,000, or even $50,000. They can end up footing the bill for a large whack of urban services they seldom, if ever, benefit from."
The Feds’ comprehensive ‘Platform’ booklet is filled with questions and topics to level at candidates putting themselves up for election in October this year.
And there’s also food for thought for existing and prospective councillors as they work on their plans and pledges to voters for the triennium ahead.
"On service delivery and charging, the farming emphasis can be summed up as ‘fit for purpose, at a fair price’," Milne said.
The quality of environmental regulation can make or break a farm business. “So on that front, farmers look for a practical and common-sense approach from councils - one that balances environmental gains with economic impacts and preserving the ability to farm.
"With the annual rates increases of many councils double or even triple inflation, and debt levels also mounting up, farmers - and many other constituents - are looking for councillors who know the difference between ‘nice to haves’ and ‘need to haves’. "And if farmers don’t get satisfactory answers from current and prospective councillors, our guide is challenging them to consider standing themselves. Let’s have more of the pragmatism, innovation and prudence New Zealand agriculture is famous for inside local authority chambers," Milne said.
New Zealand's pest problem has reached crisis point, according to Federated Farmers' second National Pests Survey, which shows farmers are spending more money and effort on control — yet pest numbers keep climbing faster than they were two years ago.
Despite political shenanigans in Wellington, farmers are confident that Resource Management Act (RMA) reforms will get over the line in this term of Parliament.
The Government has announced it will pause key parts of Waikato Plan Change 1 (PC1) in a decision that is set to give Waikato farmers a reprieve from new consenting and farm-planning requirements while the wider resource management system is overhauled.
OPINION: As the general election approaches, political parties are churning out policies in the hope of attracting more votes.
Federated Farmers president Colin Hurst and his family raised a glass of milk last week to toast the start of a new addition to their farming operation at Makihihi, south of Timaru.
Bigger, bolder salads packed with colour, crunch and flavour are making headlines overseas — and the arrival of fresh spring vegetables means New Zealanders can now get chopping too, creating their own Great Kiwi Spring Salad.
Chinese beef trade quotas and a looming suspension of Brazilian beef imports into the European Union are expected to reshape global beef trade flows over the remainder of 2026, with implications for New Zealand exporters, according to Rabobank's Q3 Global Beef Quarterly report.
James Blair, an agronomist for AS Wilcox and the Pukekohe regional champion, has won the 2026 Young Grower national title.
An Auckland gelato shop and an established New Zealand ice cream maker have both been named Supreme Champions at the NZ Ice Cream & Gelato Awards 2026.
As the cost-of-living crisis continues to put pressure on household grocery budgets, new figures show pork remains one of the most affordable fresh meat options for New Zealand families.
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