Friday, March 29, 2024

Daily Digest: July 8, 2020

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Outlook for September  With only 72 days until the general election the polls significantly favour Labour. While in large measure they reflect the Government’s deft handling of the covid-19 crisis other issues also come into play.
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Some in the farming community appear to have read the runes and decided there is a likelihood of a second Labour term, whether ruling in its own right or in coalition. 

If so, incoming Federated Farmers dairy chairman Wayne Langford predicts freshwater reform and climate change policies are two areas farmers will have to increasingly come to grips with.

On the positive side he thinks farmers are already up to standard with a lot of what they are doing. His advice is to focus on the health of their business and not get too distracted by external matters.

 

Gerard Hutching

 

Knotty problem 

Outgoing Federated Farmers meat and wool chairman Miles Anderson is worried sheep farming is in decline and puts it down to incentives to plant trees and crops. He doesn’t expect much from the Wool Working Group Report.

 

Leap in dairy prices 

Dairy buyers at the latest GDT auction hoping to buy at relatively low prices have given the index its biggest lift since 2016. A big winner was the whole milk powder price, which jumped 14%.

  

Farmer charity forges ahead 

The Meat the Need charity, to which farmers have given 210 animals for food banks in the three months since its launch, is now to focus on the North Island after it has been shown to work successfully in the South Island.

 

Migrant changes soothe nerves 

To the relief of the primary sector the Government has announced a six-month extension of migrant workers’ visas and a reduction of the stand-down period from 12 to six months for low-skilled workers.

 

Dairy leader positive 

New Federated Farmers dairy chairman Wayne Langford is preparing farmers for the likelihood of a second Labour term and a renewed focus on freshwater reform and climate change.

 

Tonight on Sarah’s country 

7.10pm – Water storage was acknowledged as a key enabler for boosting productivity in the Government’s Primary Sector plan Fit for a Better World launched yesterday but Irrigation NZ is still calling for an integrated water strategy across the three waters. Its chief executive Elizabeth Soal will explain it's more than announcing roadmaps or millions of dollars of funding. 

7.20pm – Ashburton farmer Eric Watson takes out a Guinness World Record for the second time showing New Zealand is an important part of the global arable scene. He harvested an incredible 17.398 tonnes a hectare wheat crop. We will take your questions to Eric.  

7.30pm – Ospri is switching to a regional approach, having listened to feedback from farmers about the need to communicate more with stakeholders. Chief executive Steve Stuart will join us to discuss the changes at Ospri following the TB outbreak in Hawke’s Bay.

 7.40pm – A collapse in the price of veal is driving down the store market for bobby calves, which is having a flow-on effect to the margins of rearing calves. BX Foods sales and marketing manager Gerard Brier explains why the meat company has pulled out of the market as the global situation is not pretty.

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