Federated Farmers Praises Labour's Emissions Tax Backdown
For the first time in a quarter of a century, Federated Farmers has something positive to say about the Labour Party’s climate change policy leading into a general election.
OPINION: Milking It isn't a climate change denier, although this piece will no doubt bring that claim from the usual climate crusaders.
But surely we should deal in facts when assessing the impact of, and our response to, climate change, shouldn't we?
So here's a fact: over the last two decades, NASA satellites have recorded a drop in the incidence of wildfires around the world. In the early 2000s, just over 3% of the world's land caught fire. This has trended down since then to 2.2% in 2022. You'll struggle to find that reported in the media though. It doesn't fit the "world is burning" narrative, or the UN's over-egged "era of global boiling".
Overheated headlines won't help us make sensible decisions about climate resilience.
The Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners (the College) and Hauora Taiwhenua Rural Health Network are calling for investment in a proposed new training pathway for rural GPs, warning that many rural practices are struggling to recruit while a large share of the existing workforce nears retirement.
Federated Farmers has called on Central Otago District Council (CODC) to drop or vote down a plan to truck sludge from Alexandra and Cromwell to farmland near Lauder, warning it would compound an "outrageous" situation created by a separate council's decision weeks earlier.
Synlait has swung to second-half profit as operations stabilise, but the dairy processor still posted a $75.4m annual loss.
LIC shareholders have elected a new North Island representative to the co-operative's Board, along with five representatives to its Shareholder Reference Group (SRG), following the company's Annual Meeting held in Invercargill.
Farmers across parts of Southland and South Otago are continuing to deal with difficult conditions after a prolonged run of wet weather, with pressure building around feed supply, stock management, pasture damage, farm infrastructure and everyday workloads.
Federated Farmers says it welcomes Labour's commitment to reviewing the Sharemilking Agreements Act, calling on other major parties to do the same.
OPINION: It seems Canterbury processor Synlait is still in the doldrums.
OPINION: Get offside with New Zealand First leader Winston Peters at your own peril.