Frontline biosecurity 'untouchable'
Biosecurity Minister Andrew Hoggard has reiterated that 'frontline' biosecurity services within Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) will not be cut under the Government's plan to reduce the public service.
Federated Farmers says it generally supports the government’s decision to further restrict the sale of New Zealand farmland to overseas buyers.
Vice-president Andrew Hoggard says the new government policy broadly aligns with that of the Feds.
From December 15 not only will the owners of very large farms proposed for sale to overseas buyers require permission from the Overseas Investment Office (OIO), but any land larger than 5ha will now come under this office’s jurisdiction.
The new directive will not apply to forestry land.
Associate Finance Minister David Parker says the existing directive is too loose. Parker says too often investors buy a NZ farm then use existing systems, technology and management practices which don’t substantially add anything new or create additional value in our economy.
“We want to make it clear that it is a privilege to own or control NZ’s sensitive assets, and this privilege must be earned,” he says.
Hoggard says while the notion of ‘benefits to New Zealand’ in the old policy seemed to be right, in practice it didn’t turn out that way in the decisions of the OIO.
“You’d look at a decision and say ‘really? they view that as a benefit? Somehow a NZ purchaser wouldn’t have done that anyway.”
Hoggard says the new directive will give the OIO a clear message to step up a notch or two in how it assesses the net benefit to NZ.
He says Feds’ concerns, and those of the public, centre on the big trusts which just come to NZ and buy farms but do not contribute to local communities or NZ agriculture in any way.
A big concern is when these people start buying processing facilities, he says. “People are nervous about that.”
But Hoggard hopes the new rules will not prevent people who genuinely come here to farm and to invest in local communities. He gives as examples two prominent members of Federated Farmers -- Anders Crofoot and Willy Leferink -- who he says contributed much; and James Cameron and Julian Robinson – both wealthy individuals – invested in their local communities and brought new benefits to NZ.
“These people have been great for NZ and I would hate to see some blanket guideline that would cut people like that out of the equation.”
Hoggard says farmers and others will watch with interest to see if the new directive is applied fairly.
Rural trader PGG Wrightson has revised its operating earnings guidance, saying trading conditions have deteriorated since the last market update in February.
It's been a bumper season for maize and other supplements in the eastern Bay of Plenty.
Leading farmers from around New Zealand connected to share environmental stories and inspiration and build relationships at the Dairy Environment Leaders (DEL) national forum in Wellington last month.
AgriZeroNZ, a joint venture fast-tracking emissions reduction tools for farmers, is pouring $5 million in a biotech company to develop a low emissions farm pasture with increased productivity gains.
Fonterra is teaming up with wealth app provider Sharesies to make it easier for its farmer shareholders to trade co-op shares among themselves.
Te Awamutu dairy farmers Doug, Penny, Josh and Bayley Storey have planted more than 25,000 native trees on the family farm, adding to a generations-old native forest.