Forest organisations have joined to reject statements that the current shortage of framing timber is caused by foresters selling logs to China and not leaving enough timber to be processed for sale in New Zealand. The Wood Processors and Manufacturers Association’s Chief Executive, Jon Tanner says Chinese log buyers were going to what he called […]
Opinion
Economic Week – April 1
by Nick Clark, Manager General Policy Feds urges fiscal responsibility On Wednesday Federated Farmers presented its submission on the Budget Policy Statement to Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee. Read here to see what National President Andrew Hoggard told the Select Committee but the gist of it is that he urged caution on any spending spree […]
Animal welfare front of mind for trucking industry
by Nick Leggett, CEO, Road Transport Forum OPINION: Live animals trapped in a truck for six hours in Auckland’s summer heat is not acceptable in anyone’s view. Sadly, this is what happened in the most recent Covid-19 Level 3 lockdown when the road border crossing could only be described as a shemozzle. This highlighted a […]
Vaccinating animals for their health – and ours
by Mark Ross, Chief Executive of Agcarm OPINION: As we struggle to fathom how we ended up in the throes of the Covid-19 pandemic, we’re reminded of the importance of vaccinations to protect us from life-threatening diseases. The same applies to animals – to preserve their health and wellbeing as well as ours – due […]
These are the pitfalls when we rush new rules
By Andrew Hoggard, President Federated Farmers of NZ OPINION: It has come to light in the last week or so that MPI’s advice to cabinet around the Essential Freshwater legislation included reservations around the nitrate bottom line and the impact on agriculture. Of course this drew much faux shock and horror from the environmental NGO quarter, a la ‘how dare they not put the environment first’. Well, because they are not the Ministry FOR the Environment, they […]
Economic Week – February 26
by Nick Clark, Federated Farmers Manager General Policy No changes to monetary policy The Reserve Bank this week kept in place its prolonged monetary policy support and made no changes to Monetary Policy Settings. In summary it decided to: Hold the Official Cash Rate (OCR) at 0.25%; Maintain the existing Large Scape Asset Purchase (LSAP) […]
NZ Dairy is ready for a decade of change, opportunities
In his address as Chairperson to the Federated Farmers Dairy Council in Wellington on Tuesday, Wayne Langford canvassed where he thinks the sector is heading and what challenges are coming over the horizon… We are entering a new era for New Zealand dairy, in a decade where the world will never see change as fast […]
Time for agriculture to promote the true benefits of farm jobs
By Chris Lewis, Federated Farmers employment spokesperson OPINION: Farmers would have been largely unsurprised by the recent dip in unemployment figures. The almost 800 jobs advertised in the dairy industry pretty much every week since Covid-19 reared its ugly head is a clear sign that New Zealanders are not out there clamouring for work, or […]
NZ needs its own Project Warp Speed on climate change
by Peter Griffon, founding Director of the Science Media Centre. This article was first published in BusinessDesk. OPINION: The good news about the Climate Change Commission’s draft plan to meet our Paris Agreement commitments and avoid the worst of climate change is that it doesn’t hinge on technology yet to be developed. The commission has […]
Economic Week – February 12
by Nick Clark, Manager General Policy, Federated Farmers of NZ Budget 2021 The Government this week released Budget Policy Statement 2021 for the upcoming Budget. Last year’s Budget was focused mainly on the immediate need to keep New Zealand safe from COVID-19 and combatting the economic fallout. While continuing this work, Budget 2021 will move […]