By Southland Vice-President Bernadette Hunt I’ve been thinking about the social media chat following the Groundswell protest, and it has become really apparent to me that we’re really not clever about the way we use social media. The one sign that upset so many people seemed to be everywhere on Facebook, and we only have […]
Opinion
Southland Feds president has his say on rates rise
President – Southland Federated Farmers Do you support Environment Southland’s decision to permanently increase rates by 20%? Due to lack of feedback, councillors believe you do. On Friday 30th July they’re meeting to ratify this decision, so if you don’t support it, this is your last chance to let them know. This rates rise […]
SNA laws bad for everyone
By Don Carson, Forest Owners Association Communications Manager OPINION: The events of 15 and 16 July could not have been more different. On Friday 15th rural communities throughout New Zealand stood up in protest against the regulatory burdens the government is imposing. The day after the Friday protest, the heavens opened up over central New […]
Siloed, haphazard and rushed approach to policy is causing undue stress
In this speech to the Federated Farmers National Council in Christchurch on Thursday morning, Federated Farmers President Andrew Hoggard had plenty to say about RMA reform, workforce gaps and – a bright spot – progress on data inter-operability…. The phrase the ‘winter of discontent” is a well-known line from Shakespeare’s Richard the Third. It also […]
At last – a paper that recognises climate and nutrition, with GWP* thrown in too
By Andrew Hoggard, Federated Farmers President and climate change spokesperson Very recently a scientific paper was put out looking at the greenhouse gas and nutritional impacts of replacing meat in the average diet. The paper Lifetime Climate Impacts of Diet Transitions, with input from a number of very well respected scientists across a range of fields, found that the emissions […]
Govt’s response on farm workforce crisis totally underwhelming
By Jason Herrick, Southland Federated Farmers Sharemilker Chair Farm staff shortages in Southland and around the country are getting worse. While the government finally bowed to dairy industry pleas and announced border exemptions for 150 management and 50 farm assistant positions, the sector was already under severe workforce gap pressure. The super-busy calving season begins […]
Economic Week – June 11
Bank satisfaction continues to wane. Last Friday, Federated Farmers released the results from its May 2021 Banking Survey. It showed a further slippage in farmer satisfaction in banking relationships, a trend evident since late 2017. Our media release is here and the full report can be found here. The key results were: 62% of farmers […]
Economic Week – June 4
Record high for commodity prices. The ANZ Commodity Price Index has had another positive month, with the World Price Index up 1.3% for the month of May and up 24.4% for the year. The Index has risen for eight consecutive months and it has been pushed to a new record high (at least since the […]
Retention and fun two ingredients as we battle staff shortages
By Chris Lewis, Federated Farmers national board member I’ve been talking to a lot of Feds members lately about why we need migrants on our farms. It’s no different to the conversations I’ve had with builders, tilers, machinery operators … and the list could go on longer than the length of this article. With continued […]
#Bringthemhome
It’s time for a good old-fashioned letter writing campaign. I am not a psychologist or a therapist, but my skills at helping others when they are at near breaking-point have been getting a good work out lately. I take a call every day from someone who is desperately trying to figure out how they can […]