Federated Farmers Urges Farmers to Vote on November 7
With less than a week to go before voters choose the next government, Federated Farmers has a simple message to its members - get out and vote.
Farms along the northern edge of the South Island have suffered significant flood damage, says Federated Farmers Nelson president Stephen Todd.
He says flooded paddocks could take days or even weeks to clear.
He says farmers, particularly in the Rai Valley and Takaka, bore the brunt of the heavy rain. The area has dairy and sheep and beef farmers with some horticultural blocks.
Farmers who are lambing will be facing the biggest challenge, he says.
“Young lambs born in flooded paddocks are unlikely to make it,” he told Rural News.
“People are also cut off from blocks of land.”
Todd, a dairy farmer in Murchison, says farmers in his area fared better.
“We had lot of rain but the damage isn’t bad as it is further up north,” he says.
OPINION: As election day looms, rural NZ seems to have pressed the pause button – held somewhat in limbo on an orange light.
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