Don’t be a slave to your debt
OPINION: Clicking through some news of late, I have noted the odd headline referring to credit card debt.
A debt mediation scheme to help farmers in financial distress deal with their lenders starts today.
The Farm Debt Mediation Scheme will require creditors to offer mediation to farmers who default on payments before they take any enforcement action, says Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor.
“Total farm debt in NZ is $62.8 billion – up 270% on 20 years ago. Farmers are especially vulnerable to business down-turns as a result of conditions that are often outside their control, like weather, market price volatility and diseases like Mycoplasma bovis and Covid-19,’’ says O’Connor.
“Farmers who operate a family business often don’t have the resources to negotiate their own protections when dealing with lenders. That’s where this scheme fits in – it supports the mental, emotional and financial wellbeing of farmers and farming families who find themselves in financial trouble.
“The scheme is about early intervention – where either the farmer or the bank have an ability to go and seek mediation, which is a far better option than forced foreclosure,” says O’Connor.
Two Approved Mediation Organisations, The Arbitrators and Mediators Institute of New Zealand (AMINZ) and Resolution Institute (RI) have been appointed to deliver the scheme.
Farmers wishing to access the scheme should visit the MPI website.
Some farmers in the Nelson region are facing up to five years of hard work to repair their damaged properties caused by the recent devastating floods.
Federated Farmers is joining major industry-good bodies in not advocating for the Government to withdraw from the Paris Agreement.
Managing director of Woolover Ltd, David Brown, has put a lot of effort into verifying what seems intuitive, that keeping newborn stock's core temperature stable pays dividends by helping them realise their full genetic potential.
Within the next 10 years, New Zealand agriculture will need to manage its largest-ever intergenerational transfer of wealth, conservatively valued at $150 billion in farming assets.
Boutique Waikato cheese producer Meyer Cheese is investing in a new $3.5 million facility, designed to boost capacity and enhance the company's sustainability credentials.
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