Farmer fury
OPINION: The new Labour Government in the UK is facing the wrath of farmers. Last week thousands of farmers and their supporters converged in London protesting changes to inheritance tax for farmers announced in the Budget.
OPINION: Trade Minister Damien O'Connor recently flew of to the UK and Eu in an effort to add some much needed momentum to the glacial pacde of free trade talks currently taking place between NZ and both Britain and Europe.
A big sticking point for any FTA with both is agriculture - with the EU and UK farming sectors highly protected and their farmers extremely adverse to any competition from unsubsidised producers from the antipodes.
It appears we are already on the back foot with a UK FTA conmpared to our trans-Tasman cousings, Australia. The jungle drums are beating that a comprehensive FTA (including agriculture) between Australia and the UK is likely to be announced at the upcoming G7 meeting. This follows a visit to the UK by Australia's trade minister Dan Tehan earlier in the year.
If O'Connor's trip to London was not already tough enough following this likelihood, he also has to contend with growing pressure from the UK's farming lobby on Boris Johnson's government. Recently, National Farmers Union president Minette Batters published an opinion piece in the Mail on Sunday headed: 'You can't level up by throwing our family farms under a bus'.
She mentioned how the UK is currently in trade negotiations with a number of major agricultural producers, including Australia and New Zealand and how these talks have "reached a crucial stage".
"And it's clear that negotiators from Australia and New Zealand are sticking firm to their hard-line demands for the complete removal of tariffs on all their exports to the UK," Batters opined. "This would make life unbearable for small British family farms, which, remember, must respect British laws governing high farm standards."
Batters then claimed it was all but impossible for British farmers to compete with "vast volumes of imports from the southern hemisphere". She then went on to falsely claim that UK producers would have to lower their environmental and animal welfare stands to compete with NZ and Australian produce.
In a highly emotive conclusion, Batters said: "The plain truth is this: removing tariffs for vast, unmanageable volumes of Australian beef or New Zealand lamb - of, God forbid, allowing zero tariffs on all their produce - could spell the end" (of British farming).
That's the attitude O'Connor faces on his trip to London. Good luck, he's going to need it!
A major feature of the Ashburton A&P Show, to be held on October 31 and November 1, will be the annual trans-Tasman Sheep Dog Trial test match, with the best heading dogs from both sides of the Tasman going head-to-head in two teams of four.
Fewer bobby calves are heading to the works this season, as more dairy farmers recognise the value of rearing calves for beef.
The key to a dairy system that generates high profit with a low emissions intensity is using low footprint feed, says Fonterra program manager on-farm excellence, Louise Cook.
Rural retailer Farmlands has reported a return to profitability, something the co-operative says shows clear progress in the second year of its five-year strategy.
According to a new report, the Safer Rides initiative, which offered farmers heavily discounted crush protection devices (CPDs) for quad bikes, has made a significant impact in raising awareness and action around farm vehicle safety.
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