Feds make case for rural bank lending probe
Bankers have been making record profits in the last few years, but those aren’t the only records they’ve been breaking, says Federated Farmers vice president Richard McIntyre.
IF WE DON'T look after all natural pollinators, particularly the honey bee, we could see economic and social collapse, says John Hartnell, Federated Farmers Bees chairperson and a Christchurch-based exporter of bee products.
"We are truly tiptoeing around the edge of a global chasm," says Hartnell. "One-third of the food all humans eat is directly pollinated by honeybees. Nothing comes close to matching nature's super pollinator. It is why the honeybee is most indispensable animal to modern society.
"When you eat your main meal tonight, just examine what's on your plate. Anything of colour, from broccoli to carrots, or avocados to beetroot, they are only there because of honeybee pollination.
"What's more, another third of the food we eat from agriculture is indirectly supported by honeybees pollinating pasture and crops.
"While too much nitrogen can be a bad thing, too little, we forget, makes life impossible. Without bees no one would be rolling in clover. It is that simple and that stark.
"Then of course there is fruit; our sixth largest export worth over $1.7 billion each year. Whether it is kiwifruit, apple, blueberry, cherry or pear, all are directly pollinated by the honeybee.
"Without the honeybee, we'd be pretty much dependent on an austere diet of fish, starch, grains and seaweed."
Hartnell says in China much of its pear industry relies on pollination by human hand because the overuse of agricultural chemicals has made the land hostile to the honeybee.
"That is why bees are an industry group within Federated Farmers and share policy resources with our arable sector. This recognises just how vital bees are to farming and farmers know that.
"The three most important things to agriculture are 'the bees, the bees and the bees – you've got to look after the bees.' That says it all," Hartnell says.
South Waikato farm manager Ben Purua’s amazing transformation from gang life to milking cows was rewarded with the Ahuwhenua Young Maori Farmer award last night.
Bankers have been making record profits in the last few years, but those aren’t the only records they’ve been breaking, says Federated Farmers vice president Richard McIntyre.
The 2023-24 season has been a roller coaster ride for Waikato dairy farmers, according to Federated Farmers dairy section chair, Mathew Zonderop.
Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) director general Ray Smith says job cuts announced this morning will not impact the way the Ministry is organised or merge business units.
Scales Corporation is acquiring a number of orchard assets from Bostock Group.
Family and solidarity shone through at the 75 years of Ferdon sale in Otorohanga last month.
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