A Q&A with one of the new crop of Federated Farmers Provincial Presidents – Colin Hannah, Northland What is your background? I was raised on a dairy farm, and as a teenager ran the farm while still at school as my father was busy building houses for others. My father had a rule: We could […]
Local
Water entity concerns run too deep to just press ahead
Federated Farmers joins the many council elected representatives and citizens up and down the country urging the government to go back to the drawing board on reform of three waters delivery. “While it’s clear that billions of dollars of investment are needed to get drinking water, stormwater and sewerage infrastructure up to scratch, there are […]
Mike Davey elected as Ravensdown director
Taranaki farmer and former Ravensdown employee Mike Davey is the co-operative’s newest shareholder-elected director, announced at yesterday’s 2021 annual meeting. Mike, a member of Federated Farmers, has been elected as Director for Area 5, which stretches from New Plymouth to Wellington City and includes southern parts of Ruapehu and Taupō. He’s a cropping farmer, elected […]
Feds President’s letter on the Water Services Bill
Last Thursday the Water Services Bill went through its Committee Stage. The Third Reading is likely to happen this week. The National Party’s supplementary order paper, calling for those who supply 30 connections or fewer to be exempted, was defeated. (Federated Farmers had suggested an exemption for supplies to 50 people or fewer.) Local Government […]
Dedicated rural representation – A must-have for Gisborne
In November 2020 the Gisborne District Council voted in favour of including Māori wards, this, in turn, prompted a representation review. The review began in May this year with the council engaging with us on what fair representation looks like by conducting a pre-engagement survey, this resulted in the Council producing an initial proposal for […]
Forestry hiccup and lesson to councils on accurate SNA maps
By Rhea Dasent, Federated Farmers Regional Policy Advisor Federated Farmers is encouraging the Central Hawkes Bay District Council to be precise and accurate with landscape mapping in its District Plan, to avoid the lightbulb moment that Waipa District Council recently experienced. Waipa District Council needs to apply for resource consent, from itself, in order […]
Feds takes flawed Environment Southland LTP process to the Ombudsman
Federated Farmers has lodged a complaint with the Ombudsman over the way Environment Southland approved its Long-Term Plan 2022-2032 (LTP), citing unfairness as well as missing and misleading information. Feds has around 1200 members in the region – that’s a majority of Southland’s farmers – and many of them are appalled the Council has approved […]
District Plan flexibility could open up new land use, housing gains
By Simon Edwards Zeb Horrell’s vision for a less restrictive district planning approach to houses on farms brings dividends around extra farm capital, diversification, workforce help and self-sustainability. It’s also another bite out of our daunting housing shortage problem and a way that more Kiwi families can experience the joys and advantages of rural life. […]
Farm artist residency promotes agriculture and art link
Next-gen farmers and advocates for forward-thinking farming practices, Richard and Laura Morrison, are making waves in the nation’s art scene. They’ve secured renowned artist Andrew McLeod for a first-of-its-kind artist residency housed on their family farm, The Gullies. The couple are keen on fostering more positive and diverse conversations around farming, arts and the environment […]
Update from the Canterbury floods
We are now at day 106 after the 2021 Canterbury floods, and even though his own farm was ravaged by floodwater in the May 30th floods, Federated Farmers board member Chris Allen still managed to document the journey via a series of short videos. We have put them all together in a short video that […]