increase font size
Outgoing Federated Farmers president Katie Milne.
Outgoing Federated Farmers president Katie Milne has hit out at Wellington-based government officials for their lack of understanding about farming.
Milne, the first woman to head Feds, says instead of trying to help the farming sector, it feels at times the Wellington bureaucrats are trying to strangle it.
She says the one thing that has blown her away in her three years as president of Feds is the lack of knowledge and understanding of farming by policy makers in Wellington.
“There are some officials that get it, there are some that get parts of it, but it seems to me that a lot of assumptions about agriculture are made by people who don’t understand the nuances of food production.
“Producing food consistently is actually quite difficult and it is so important to have farming voices in Wellington around these decision makers,” she says.
Milne says the decisions that policy makers come up with dramatically affect farmers’ lives. She says the bad decisions are not deliberate, but come as result of fewer New Zealanders having connections to farms.
She says if people Google an issue, quite often the answer they get will have no relevance to NZ whatsoever. Milne says farming is complex and the aspirations and goals of farmers are different.
Coming up with a policy solution is not easy, but she says the solution must be relevant to the NZ situation.
“It is said that we need all of NZ’s economic champions to be firing, so why nobble them – especially agriculture,” she says.
OPINION: Recent media commentary from Southland Federated Farmers has raised concerns among our rural communities, particularly around Environment Southland’s approach to winter grazing inspections and nitrogen reporting. But let’s be clear, much of what’s been said simply doesn’t reflect reality.
OPINION: Environment Canterbury's (ECan) decision recently to declare a so-called “nitrate emergency” is laughable.
A shameless political stunt is how Federated Farmers is describing the Canterbury Regional Council decision to declare “a nitrate emergency” on the back of its latest annual groundwater quality survey.
Federated Farmers say Environment Canterbury's decision to declare a 'nitrate emergency' is a shameless political stunt that won't help anyone.
Farmers want the Government to scrap controversial freshwater rules that "put river spirits and ideology ahead of practical water use", says Federated Farmers board member Mark Hooper.
According to ASB, Fonterra's plan to sell it's Anchor and Mainlands brands could inject $4.5 billion in additional spending into the economy.
New Zealand’s trade with the European Union has jumped $2 billion since a free trade deal entered into force in May last year.
The climate of uncertainty and market fragmentation that currently characterises the global economy suggests that many of the European agricultural machinery manufacturers will be looking for new markets.
Dignitaries from all walks of life – the governor general, politicians past and present, Maoridom- including the Maori Queen, church leaders, the primary sector and family and friends packed Our Lady of Kapiti’s Catholic church in Paraparaumu on Thursday October 23 to pay tribute to former prime Minister, Jim Bolger who died last week.
Agriculture and Forestry Minister, Todd McClay is encouraging farmers, growers, and foresters not to take unnecessary risks, asking that they heed weather warnings today.
With nearly two million underutilised dairy calves born annually and the beef price outlook strong, New Zealand’s opportunity to build a scalable dairy-beef system is now.
