OPINION
MACHINERY
NEWS
We are not cowboys, minister.
Axial Flow reveals new machines for 2019. PAGE 46
Making the change from marketing green and gold kiwifruit to red meat. PAGE 6
PAGE 33
TO ALL FARMERS, FOR ALL FARMERS SEPTEMBER 4, 2018: ISSUE 660
www.ruralnews.co.nz
Laggards in MPI’s sight PETER BURKE peterb@ruralnews.co.nz
MPI IS setting out to connect with ‘unconnected’ farmers to make them aware of all the new animal welfare and environmental compliance regulations. Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor says the government is putting up $3 million over four years to spread the message about the changes. MPI has the task of communicating with farmers who haven’t been getting these messages from Beef + LambNZ and DairyNZ.
O’Connor says the government wants farmers to move from volumebased production to a value-based system, which requires a high standard of working conditions and sound environmental stewardship. He admits MPI can’t do the communicating itself so it will work with local farm advisory companies and industry-good organisations to get messages across. He wants MPI to be in contact with 300 farmers NZ-wide in the first year -- those who have not been contacted by a normal advisory service before, he told Rural News. “They may be the hardest to get to
because they have their heads down getting on with their farm work and may not know of the new compliance issues coming up. The aim is to take a lead to help farmers and turn it into a positive engagement rather than forcing compliance on them.” O’Connor says many farmers see compliance as a threat, but sooner or later dairy and meat companies will demand compliance so those who don’t comply may face severe consequences. He says traditionally farmers have believed that the bottom 20% of their colleagues ‘will go broke so let’s not
worry about them, we’ll just buy their farms’. “But we can no longer sustain that approach to farming because the 20% who need to lift their game are the ones that tarnish NZ’s image in the international marketplace. We cannot afford to have people who don’t understand what they have to do.” O’Connor hopes this new approach will work -- supporting farmers to achieve greater sustainability and value in their operations. This can help lift water quality, improve biosecurity and help NZ meet its greenhouse gas emission targets.”
ONE YEAR on from a ground-breaking ceremony attended by a bevy of VIPs, the building site for the $206 million Lincoln University and AgResearch education and research centre on the Lincoln campus remains fenced-off, deserted and overgrown. Some site works have been completed, but the main build was delayed by a decision in April to seek more quotes. “We expect that process to be complete by the end of September,” AgResearch chief executive Tom Richardson told Rural News. The 27,000sq.m joint facility is expected to house 700 agricultural science staff from Lincoln University, AgResearch and DairyNZ, with more tenants envisaged. – merger talks page 7
FOLLOW THE MONEY! FORMER FONTERRA director Mark Townsend believes people need to be more wary about the real motives behind critics of the dairy co-op. He concedes that Fonterra cops its share of criticism – some deserved and some over the top. Referring to the attack on Fonterra leadership by NZ First Minister Shane Jones, Townshend says the “bizarre outburst will have been fuelled from somewhere”. “And it will be worth watching who funds political parties (donations) and what they might like to see for their own self-interest as Government legislators do the DIRA review,” he told Rural News. Townshend says non-supplying Fonterra unit holders receiving disappointing returns on investments have “a genuine grievance”. However, he is disappointed at criticism from Fonterra shareholders and ex-Fonterra employees. Townsend says Fonterra farmers need to be able to make their own assessments around how well the co-op is doing in paying its farmers a globally competitive milk price – rather than being overly influenced by outside parties with their own vested interests. – Sudesh Kissun
UNEXPECTED BREAK. IT HAPPENS MORE OFTEN THAN YOU’D THINK.
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