B+LNZ board fees hike rejected by farmers
Red meat farmers have dealt a major blow to their umbrella farmer body, Beef + Lamb New Zealand - rejecting an increase in directors’ fees.
Beef + Lamb New Zealand wants changes made to the stock exclusion regulations the Government introduced in August 2020 - specifically the low-slope map.
"Our position has been clear all along - we want the inaccurate low-slope map to be deleted and replaced with a general rule that regional councils would be empowered to give effect to," BLNZ chief executive Sam McIvor says.
The Government's current low-slope map identifies thousands of hectares of steep land as low-slope which therefore is required to be fenced. "Tinkering around the edges of the unworkable and inaccurate national-scale map won't get the right outcomes - we need regional approaches."
McIvor says the Government's decision to support an industry-led Intensive Winter Grazing (IWG) module to farm plans in the coming year and to delay the implementation of the winter grazing rules shows that arbitrary rules are not the right approach. "We have been very clear that farmers need workable and relevant rules and have been advocating for effects-based approaches at the paddock scale to both IWG and to stock exclusion, delivered through effective farm planning."
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The opportunity to spend more time on farm while providing a dedicated service for shareholders attracted new environmental manager Ben Howden to work for Waimakariri Irrigation Limited (WIL).
Federated Farmers claims that the Otago Regional Council is charging ahead unnecessarily with piling more regulation on rural communities.
Dairy sheep and goat farmers are being told to reduce milk supply as processors face a slump in global demand for their products.
OPINION: We have good friends from way back who had lived in one of our major cities for many years.