Editorial: War's over
OPINION: In recent years farmers have been crying foul of unworkable and expensive regulations.
OPINION: One of the tasks of whatever new government emerges in the coming days and weeks will be to look and see what can be done to restore farmer confidence.
The latest results from the Rabobank confidence survey show that farmer confidence sits at a record minus 72%. It goes on to show that three quarters of sheep and beef farmers expect the performance of their own farming businesses to deteriorate in the coming year.
This isn’t surprising, given the news that has been widely reported for some months now with a sluggish Chinese market, global inflation, and the very volatile geopolitical situation.
Uncertainty started with the arrival of Covid-19 and has remained something of a constant. Yes, we have got two new FTAs over the line and there is improved access for many of our primary products, but for the last four years, volatility and uncertainty have prevailed.
While the survey results rightly says the main cause of the confidence drop is lower commodity prices, there are other factors at play, such as rising input costs – fuel, fertiliser and the like – and the scarcity and cost of skilled labour.
Interestingly, government policies have slipped out of the top two reasons for the drop in farmer confidence. Maybe there is a realisation that whoever governs the country, the direction of travel won’t change, although the speed may slow.
In the last few months of the election campaign the issues affecting farmers and rural communities have largely been ignored by politicians and the mainstream media.
The campaign has been depressing and one can only hope that when the politicians come back to Wellington they will start to focus on real issues – one of these being restoring farmer and rural confidence.
Fonterra has cemented its position as the country’s number one cheesemaker by picking up nine NZ Champion of Cheese trophies this year.
New Zealand dairy processors are welcoming the Government’s commitment to continuing to push for Canada to honour its trade commitments.
An educational programme, set up by Beef + Land New Zealand, to connect farmers virtually with primary and intermediate school students has reported the successful completion of its second year.
The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) has welcomed a resolution adopted by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly to declare 2026 International Year of the Woman Farmer.
Waikato herd health veterinarian Katrina Roberts is the 2024 Fonterra Dairy Woman of the Year.
Horticulture NZ chief executive Nadine Tunley will step down in August.
OPINION: Canterbury milk processor Synlait is showing no sign of bouncing back from its financial doldrums.
OPINION: It seems every bugger in this country can get an award these days.