Federated Farmers urge government to honour KiwiSaver promise
Federated Farmers is calling on the Government to deliver on its pre-election promise to change the KiwiSaver rules to help young farmers get their foot on the farming ladder.
Farms along the northern edge of the South Island have suffered significant flood damage, says Federated Farmers Nelson president Stephen Todd.
He says flooded paddocks could take days or even weeks to clear.
He says farmers, particularly in the Rai Valley and Takaka, bore the brunt of the heavy rain. The area has dairy and sheep and beef farmers with some horticultural blocks.
Farmers who are lambing will be facing the biggest challenge, he says.
“Young lambs born in flooded paddocks are unlikely to make it,” he told Rural News.
“People are also cut off from blocks of land.”
Todd, a dairy farmer in Murchison, says farmers in his area fared better.
“We had lot of rain but the damage isn’t bad as it is further up north,” he says.
The Good Carbon Farm has partnered with Tolaga Bay Heritage Charitable Trust to deliver its first project in Tairāwhiti Gisborne.
Education union NZEI Te Riu Roa says that while educators will support the Government’s investment in learning support, they’re likely to be disappointed that it has been paid for by defunding expert teachers.
The Government says it is sharpening its focus and support for the food and fibre industry in Budget 2025.
A European Union regulation ensuring that the products its citizens consume do not contribute to deforestation or forest degradation worldwide threatens $200m of New Zealand beef and leather exports.
A long-acting, controlled- release capsule designed to protect ewes from internal parasites during the lambing period is back on the market following a comprehensive reassessment.
Healthcare appears to be the big winner in this year's budget as agriculture and environment miss out.