Friday, March 29, 2024

State of Play: Support is always there

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How is the New Zealand dairy industry going to be able to cope with not one, but the now-predicted two seasons of low international prices?
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It’s all very well to make cuts to get through a short downturn, but increasingly the sentiment seems to be that while payouts in the mid-$4 range might be what dairy farmers will be looking at for the 2016-17 season, there might only be a rise to the mid to high $5 for the season after that.

Farmers are certainly getting assistance to look at system change onfarm. They’re reducing costs, in many cases, by going back to simpler and more repeatable farming methods they might have used in the past. As well as giving more Tactics for Tough Times advice, which has been so useful in the past, DairyNZ has been involved in collective industry initiatives, such as two-weekly meetings of the Dairy Liaison Group containing representatives from different farming, business and government entities.

So it’s great to see two publications from the Ministry for Primary Industries, the first targeting Rural Support Trust facilitators and frontline staff assisting dairy industry stakeholders and the second targeting dairy farmers themselves.

The Facilitator and Farmer Toolkit Dairy Industry working documents, available at www.mpi.govt.nz/document-vault/12312, are having more information added as feedback is received. They both start off with six support messages letting farmers know, importantly, that stress and worry are normal responses to an abnormal event, and they’re not alone. They’re urged to talk to advisers, look after themselves and get off the farm. It gives the Rural Support Trust number, 0800 RURAL HELP (0800 787 254), and suggests consulting a doctor about managing stress or in an emergency calling 111. And it lists a comprehensive range of where they might go for financial help, farming help and perhaps most vitally, psychological and emotional help.

There’s a list of farming sector help from Working for Families through to income tax assistance and Work and Income grants which might apply for those on low incomes. A fact sheet can be left behind by facilitators talking to farmers for them to digest in their own time.

There’s six “hot” animal health items for tough times, contributed by Neil MacPherson, the NZVA’s dairy cattle vet resource manager. These range through dry cow therapy, facial eczema prevention, magnesium supplementation, leptospirosis vaccination, regularly monitoring body condition score and a herd mating plan.

It ends with a warning that cost-cutting on animal health should be carefully assessed because it’s more cost-effective across the season to be proactive than reactive.

The toolkits have a page of tips on sleeping well, along with district health board contact information from around the country. A lot of this information comes from New Zealand Kiwifruit Growers who very successfully managed the Psa incursion through holding together as an industry. That’s exactly what dairying is doing and needs to continue to emphasise at every opportunity.

Te Puke dairy farmers Andrea and Kevin Marsh, who saw Psa’s effect up close and what it meant for servicing industries in their area, got a great response when they suggested earlier in the year that those firms might want to reduce their charges to help shoulder farmers’ pain.

In mid-May Ravensdown stepped up with an early payment to its farmers along with a drop in the price of some of its products. Farmers are sure to remember this in the coming years when prices improve, and it’s to be hoped this move will be repeated by other companies showing their support of their farming clients.

There’s a lot quietly going on behind the scenes as well with the Rural Support Trust. That’s seen Work and Income representatives coming onfarm where required in some areas, rather than farmers needing to make a long journey to their offices to find out what they’re entitled to.

And its collaboration dinners held throughout Northland have got farmers together when such gatherings have been most needed in order to feel the support of their counterparts around them. Another round could be a great place for farmers to share views on the initiatives taken so far and how they’ve panned out.

Keeping positive is the most important thing. Sharing what’s good about dairying on social media is a new, very welcome and useful way to reinforce the reasons why this industry was a career choice in the first place. Spreading that word far and wide is the next, very important, and totally timely step.

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