ANIMAL HEALTH
MACHINERY & PRODUCTS
Keeping cows comfortable off paddock. PAGE 28
John Deere 8 Series offers greater choice. PAGE 30
AGRIBUSINESS Making it okay to ask for help. PAGE 18
TO ALL FARMERS, FOR ALL FARMERS NOVEMBER 19, 2019: ISSUE 689
www.ruralnews.co.nz
Uncertainty causing angst PETER BURKE peterb@ruralnews.co.nz
THE CULMINATION of some poorly thought-out government policies is to blame for the low morale in the agri sector. That’s the view of National’s spokesperson on agriculture Todd Muller who says in his 20 years in the sector he’s never seen things as bad as they are now. Muller says farmers have a high
level of anxiety about the future because they don’t know where things are at. “In my previous roles at Zespri and Fonterra, I’ve been to hundreds of farmer meetings and right now I am going around the country talking to farmers,” he told Rural News. “Usually when you go to meetings there are some anger and grumbles about performance or financial matters, but this is different. What is occurring is a consistent, persistent
National’s agriculture spokesman Todd Muller.
assault on farming and people’s ability to farm.” Muller says when farmers are told they have to reduce the N loading on their farms by up to 80% they are perplexed and stressed and realise that they just can’t farm. He says as well as the environmental reforms farmers are facing they also have to deal with M. bovis, changes to the gun laws and myriad other issues. He says it’s the cumulative effect of a lot of things.
“The net effect of that is a sector that is feeling very much under pressure in the sense that the Government doesn’t understand what it’s like to farm and to produce food. “It feels like you are in the middle and that the people who are making the rules in this country don’t get what it’s like to farm and don’t understand the day-to-day variables. They don’t understand how emotionally farmers have invested in the businesses. Their confidence has been eroded and needs to be addressed,” Muller said. He adds the other pressure coming on farmers is from the banks. Muller says there are increasing demands for farmers to pay down the principle on their loans and not just pay interest only. He says all the banks have made it clear they want to reduce their exposure to the rural sector.
All go at the show!
RURAL NEWS GROUP
Alastair Robertson, sales and import brand manager for Canterbury farm machinery dealer Cochranes, combines work with family time on the first day of the 2019 NZ Agricultural Show, last week. Robertson is showing his daughter Evelyn (2) the controls of a new Case Maxxum 110 tractor. Based at Cochrane’s Leeston branch, Robertson has regularly manned the company’s Canterbury Show stand for about four years. He says it’s not just a day for the family, but also a great way to catch up and meet clients. – More on the Show next issue.
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