This time last year New Zealand lost five people in on-farm workplace accidents. We can’t let that happen again this year. Federated Farmers and our strategic partner Yamaha have teamed up to put together a photo competition to remind farmers, growers and their families how important it is to take care at work, in winter, […]
Community
People drive positivity
The Dairy industry is currently burdened with numerous government and local policies and negative connotations from some sectors with little knowledge of how much farmers care for their land and livestock to the point that they become sleep deprived due to dedication and lack of suitable staffing allocations. The primary sector should be proud of […]
Beekeepers’ message to Kiwis this September: Love bees? Plant trees (when you can)!
Beekeepers are calling on bee-lovers across New Zealand to take what actions they can to improve the health and resilience of Kiwi bee populations this September for Bee Aware Month. Apiculture New Zealand, the national body representing beekeepers and honey producers, is asking Kiwis to Feed the Bees by planting bee-friendly trees and plants this […]
Feds disappointed with deadline extension refusal
Federated Farmers is extremely disappointed with Otago Regional Council’s outright rejection of a multi-party request for a two week extension for all submitters on the Council’s Regional Policy Statement (RPS) review in light of the Covid lockdown. “ORC chief executive Sarah Gardner – quite correctly – has told her staff that during the lockdown they […]
Family violence response extends to refuge for pets
by Lauren Hale A 2018 Women’s Refuge survey of victims who had experienced animal abuse found that 53% delayed fleeing violent situations out of fear for their pet’s safety. As an answer to this, the charity Pet Refuge has been set up to offer safe shelters for small or large pets – and even offer […]
Tapping farmer knowledge, effort a key to Te Manahuna Aoraki pest control
By Simon Edwards Two or three hares can eat as much as a sheep in alpine grassland. They’ll also damage saplings and shrubs. As part of his research, Otago PhD student Nick Foster needed help to put GPS collars on hares in the nationally significant biodiversity area looked after by Te Manahuna Aoraki. Lilybank Station […]
Don’t fence me in
By Rebecca Flannery, Sometimes we here at Federated Farmers need to just get out and visit rural communities to learn and understand more about them and get a picture of where exactly we fit in terms of what they need, as opposed to what we think they may need … So recently we got ourselves […]
Feds backs the butcher, the baker, and the greengrocer – again
Federated Farmers says the government needs to reconsider and let small business fresh food sellers stay open under level 4. Last year Federated Farmers national president Andrew Hoggard was vocal about Feds’ position. “We pleaded for common sense to prevail, we have had over one year to sort this out – yet it is not.” New […]
Safety project tackles sprains and strains on dairy farms
A three-year DairyNZ and ACC project is underway to identify ways to reduce the occurrence of sprains and strains on-farm. DairyNZ Senior Scientist Callum Eastwood said for this particular project, the focus is on engineering solutions and farm system changes rather than behaviour change. Farm system changes might include practices such as once-a-day or flexible […]
Extra compliance burden on small water suppliers unfair
Hawke’s Bay-based Federated Farmers Senior Policy Advisor Rhea Dasent has written this open letter to her local MP: Dear Anna Lorck, MP for Tukituki. I am writing to implore you to vote for an amendment to the Water Services Bill to exempt small water suppliers like my father from an unnecessary and unfair regulatory burden. […]