Displaying items by tag: Federated Farmers

At least 7000 dairy livestock have been affected in the recent storms in Waikato and Bay of Plenty alone and hundreds of hectares of pasture and maize crops have been damaged, DairyNZ reports.

Farmers are concerned about a three-year cap on temporary work visas announced by the Government this week.

Farmers are hoping to retain the right to burn off crop residue under the new national Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) fire authority due to be set up mid-year.

Fonterra's Edgecumbe factory remained closed last week and milk was redirected to nearby processing plants.

Some dairy farmers in flood-hit Edgecumbe face hefty financial pressure as the impact of the floods is realised.

Some youngsters working recently in farm flood recovery via a Ministry for Social Development scheme have got received on those farms, says Andrew Maclean, Auckland provincial president, Federated Farmers.

Rabbit-plagued farmers are disappointed that bureaucracy has held up the anticipated release of a new strain of rabbit haemorrhagic disease (calicivirus).

Federated Farmers dairy spokesman Andrew Hoggard says all the farmers he has talked to understand it is important to be able to manage the growth of the industry.

Dairy industry leader Andrew Hoggard supports the idea of opening Fonterra shares to overseas milk suppliers – but not townies.

Dairy farmers bracing for unannounced visits by Waikato Regional Council staff are reminded by a Feds spokesman to enforce health and safety rules onfarm.