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12 Fonterra defers Scope 3 plans Vol 21 No 38, October 2, 2023
Values over vitriol Neal Wallace
NEWS
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Leadership
HE primary sector has become divided after six years dealing with new government legislation, leaders say. Trying to meet the expectations of farmers, growers and the government, they say, has caused division and taken an enormous toll on leaders. Rural confidence has been negative for years. People are angry, leaders subject to personal attacks and support for ginger groups such as Groundswell is growing among those feeling disaffected. Against this backdrop, levy payers have asked producer bodies to be more active in advocacy, but this is now being questioned. New Federated Farmers president Wayne Langford wants greater clarity about the roles of Federated Farmers, Beef + Lamb NZ (BLNZ) and DairyNZ, which he says now overlap. He sees Feds as farmers’ political voice and BLNZ and DairyNZ as having roles in extension, science and, for BLNZ, marketing. Federated Farmers has had two
presidents since May last year and a largely new executive after three resigned due to the workload. BLNZ has a new chair in Kate Acland, and there are new chief executives at DairyNZ, Campbell Parker, and at HortNZ, Nadine Tunley. BLNZ released a report this week that says that in the past six years the government has introduced more than 20 rules and regulations that affect the primary sector. Langford said the resulting workload has exhausted leaders. “I’m not surprised there has been a bit of a changing of the guard. There has been a bit of a leadership fatigue,” he said. Acland said the He Waka Eke Noa (HWEN) debate was especially divisive and created anger and mistrust as leaders juggled the multiple views of levy payers and the limits of transparency permitted during negotiations. “HWEN really fragmented our sector,” she said. “Climate change is a reality and we have to deal with it, but where we got it wrong with HWEN is we got too far ahead of farmers. “The government did not lead by providing choices and Continued page 5
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Contractors, crops waiting for the sun North Island farmers and contractors are waiting for paddocks to dry out enough to get silage mowing and cultivation work underway. Fine, windy weather in early September gave way to heavy rain, leaving soils in some regions waterlogged, though the Hawke’s Bay arable chair for Federated Farmers, Hugh Abbiss, says the earlier fine weather has Photo: Vicky O’Connor made conditions ideal for early crop sowing.
NEWS 5
Letting sleeping dogs lie in comfort Barbie Cassidy started making knopped wool dog beds 32 years ago. She didn’t expect it to take over her life.
PEOPLE 24 Delays in approval to use crop chemicals are disadvantaging NZ farmers and growers.
NZ’s free trade deal with the UK is already paying dividends for red meat exporters.
Don’t blame farm animals for the crypto outbreak in Queenstown, Alan Emerson says.
NEWS 6
MARKETS 7
OPINION 22