DairyNZ and Beef + Lamb NZ wrap up M. bovis compensation support after $161M in claims
Compensation assistance for farmers impacted by Mycoplama bovis is being wound up.
DairyNZ director Ben Allomes says dairy farmer morale has lifted in the last few months to sit now at six or seven out of ten.
He says a year ago it was much lower and even six months ago it wasn’t great, but he’s detected a change in the past few months.
No doubt the better milk price is a cause, bringing relief after a couple of tough years.
“I’m looking forward to the end of May, and being able to strike it off and look to the new season. I supposed even in bad times there are things you have to learn from and take positives from. But it’s been a wet hard season, and though milk prices are recovering there’s a feeling of shell shock or post-traumatic stress syndrome.”
He says farmers should feel happy that milk prices have come up, but he admits they are not as happy and as grateful as they should be. Weather patterns have been bizarre: Northland and the West Coast have been struck in ways abnormal for the times of the year they occurred.
And ongoing geopolitical issues continue to make market volatility a cause of stress.
Also distressing dairy farmers are the ongoing attacks on farmers in the news media, he says.
“When we start hearing more of the negative media stories it impacts more on us and we [become] more critical of ourselves…. When you’re reading and hearing negative media stories it brings you down a bit and you get more sensitive to it.
“It’s pretty raw and real all around the country when farmers get out of bed to do their best for their family and their country and then get cut to pieces. It’s unpleasant especially for kids at school being bullied simply because their parents are dairy farmers.”
It was telegraphed a long time ago that in election year dairy farmers would be targeted, but he says it’s terrible that young children are being drawn into the debate.
The rural/urban divide is a problem, but some of that stems from the way rural people act and behave and treat urban people. Now there’s a need to work with the urban community, not try to educate them.
The mainstream media make it challenging for the rural sector to get its good stories out in the public arena.
Allomes believes the public is interested in authentic stories and people, of which rural NZ has plenty.
Some farmers in the Nelson region are facing up to five years of hard work to repair their damaged properties caused by the recent devastating floods.
Federated Farmers is joining major industry-good bodies in not advocating for the Government to withdraw from the Paris Agreement.
Managing director of Woolover Ltd, David Brown, has put a lot of effort into verifying what seems intuitive, that keeping newborn stock's core temperature stable pays dividends by helping them realise their full genetic potential.
Within the next 10 years, New Zealand agriculture will need to manage its largest-ever intergenerational transfer of wealth, conservatively valued at $150 billion in farming assets.
Boutique Waikato cheese producer Meyer Cheese is investing in a new $3.5 million facility, designed to boost capacity and enhance the company's sustainability credentials.
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