DairyNZ and Beef + Lamb NZ wrap up M. bovis compensation support after $161M in claims
Compensation assistance for farmers impacted by Mycoplama bovis is being wound up.
Farmer groups, DairyNZ and Beef + Lamb NZ are in damage control.
Two weeks after the Government passed changes to the National Animal Identification and Traceability (NAIT) system in Parliament under urgency, anger is still bubbling among farmers.
Farmers have been blindsided by amendments that empower MPI officers to walk onto a farm without cause and seize equipment. Adding salt to the wounds, the changes had the blessings of industry groups DairyNZ and Beef + Lamb NZ.
Now there’s talk that DairyNZ and BLNZ knew nothing of the search and surveillance provisions added at the last minute to the bill.
The Government on August 16 passed the NAIT Amendment Bill which makes changes to the act in allowing for warrantless inspections of farms, clarifying animal movement requirements and making it an offence not to record animal movements.
DairyNZ and BLNZ were quick to welcome changes. DairyNZ issued a statement headed ‘NAIT overhaul expected and necessary’; BLNZ’s statement was headed ‘BLNZ welcomes NAIT act amendments’.
Only Federated Farmers and the National Party opposed the changes, claiming they went too far.
Primary Industries Minister Damien O’Connor’s decision to bypass a select committee and pass the bill under urgency prevented Federated Farmers and its members from having any say.
Opposition agriculture spokesman Nathan Guy acknowledges some changes to NAIT are needed, but rightly points out that Parliament had been denied the opportunity to properly scrutinise government amendments – which may not be in the best interests of farmers. One wonders why O’Connor didn’t use a two week parliamentary recess to send the bill to a select committee.
Farmers took to social media, venting their frustration at DairyNZ and BLNZ.
BLNZ on August 23 issued another statement headed ‘Clarifying NAIT changes’, explaining why it backed the changes. However, the statement also admitted that “the process through which the amendments were made in Parliament, however, could have been better”.
DairyNZ’s original statement on NAIT changes has disappeared from its website.
Farmers are rightly feeling hard done by; at a time when they are fully behind the collaborative approach to eradicate the cattle disease, M. bovis, they have been let down by the Government and Minister O’Connor.
Managing director of Woolover Ltd, David Brown, has put a lot of effort into verifying what seems intuitive, that keeping newborn stock's core temperature stable pays dividends by helping them realise their full genetic potential.
Within the next 10 years, New Zealand agriculture will need to manage its largest-ever intergenerational transfer of wealth, conservatively valued at $150 billion in farming assets.
Boutique Waikato cheese producer Meyer Cheese is investing in a new $3.5 million facility, designed to boost capacity and enhance the company's sustainability credentials.
OPINION: The Government's decision to rule out changes to Fringe Benefit Tax (FBT) that would cost every farmer thousands of dollars annually, is sensible.
Compensation assistance for farmers impacted by Mycoplama bovis is being wound up.
Selecting the reverse gear quicker than a lovestruck boyfriend who has met the in-laws for the first time, the Coalition Government has confirmed that the proposal to amend Fringe Benefit Tax (FBT) charged against farm utes has been canned.
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