Editorial: A Poor Policy
OPINION: At a time when farmers are advocating for less government spending and no new taxes, the dairy sector is rightly concerned by ACT's new immigration policy.
OPINION: It's hard to tell if any MPs are genuinely representing farming and the rural sector these days.
The revolving door of opposition ag spokespeople at National, and Labour's continuous barrage of anti-farming legislation leaves Milking It convinced that the ag sector is being given second-class treatment in Wellington.
It was refreshing then to see ACT's sole rural MP, Ruawai dairy farmer Mark Cameron, putting the boot into the Government last week.
He is upset with the Government's moves to block his proposal to take management of environmental regulations out of Wellington and given to regional councils.
"As the only person in Parliament who is still actively farming, I understand more than anyone the pressure that is being put on rural New Zealand by this Government."
A lonely voice, but at least there's still one!
New Zealand dairy farmers are set to be the first in the world to receive access to a new digital physical milk pricing tool that enables them to fix the price for their physical milk.
State farmer Pāmu is opening its farm gates this summer in an effort to give the rural sector the opportunity to see how large-scale, multi-system farming is delivering productivity and profitability across New Zealand.
A five-year study has found that the cost of reducing emissions without technology may be significant and unsustainable for Northland dairy farmers.
DairyNZ says Waikato farmers need certainty on Plan Change 1, but they say that certainty must be matched with practical, workable rules and a clear transition that doesn't get ahead of the new resource management system currently under review.
While the Government has moved quickly to make commercial hauliers' lot easier during the current fuel crisis, they appear to be stuck in the creep box when it comes to the agricultural industry.
Waikato farmers have been told that the Government’s new planning system legislation and the region’s Plan Change 1 (PC1) “won’t mesh together very well”.