He went on to say that “there’s a number of people in both parties who probably don’t have a great deal of empathy for agriculture and I think it’s probably disingenuous to say it’s one colour or the other”.
He then praised both Minister of Agriculture Damien O’Connor and National’s spokesperson David Bennett as being “passionate about farming”.
I thought that was extremely well said. What Hoggard has done is to position Feds as representing farmers, end of story. That’s where they should be.
Whereas in the past Feds has been described as the National Party in gumboots, now that’s well gone.
I can remember in the dark ages covering a Feds conference when Colin Moyle was Minister of Agriculture. He was described back then as “a great minister but in the wrong party”. Fortunately, those attitudes have changed. That’s vital for the sector as we move forward. That future is going to be vastly different from the past.
The economy we knew just six months ago is gone. We no longer have an army of backpackers touring the country. We’re unlikely to have them back in the foreseeable future.
The upper end tourists will return when there’s a vaccine, but they won’t be the tourists of the pre-covid era. A lot will have suffered a financial hit and won’t have the discretionary income to travel.
Our fruit and horticulture industries will have issues too when it comes to labour, as we’re unlikely to have an open border before the next harvest.
My belief is that the industry has to change. Taking kiwifruit as an example, it is a highly profitable industry. Having had mates that have done some picking, you wouldn’t want to live on their wages. The reality will be either paying more or changing the method of hiring and paying, so it’s the workers and not those up the chain who reap the benefits.
Likewise, our retail industry will see massive change.
With more people working from home the foot traffic in the cities will be cut and working from home presents a far simpler, cheaper lifestyle than travelling to work each day. You don’t need a suit if you’re in front of a computer and there’s unlikely to be a coffee shop next door.
Property prices will be in for a change too. If you don’t have to go to the office five days a week, why live in the city? People are moving out of the cities as the Wairarapa real estate prices would indicate.
Conversely, the primary sector is in as good a space as it is possible to be.
Independent research tells us that we’re accepted by our urban neighbours. We also had a local Times Age editorial praising farmers and that was great to see.
In the Rabobank update for October 2020, it notes that “New Zealand food and beverage remains a good place to be through this (covid-19) crisis”. It also notes that covid-19 infections remain low in our key markets of China and Australia. They also predict a fall in the NZ dollar against the greenback.
Putting the covid-19 crisis in perspective, Rabobank also told me that due to the virus, 50 million jobs were supported by job retention schemes as against just five million during the Global Financial Crisis.
So, we are better off than most, but we’ll also need to change.
As recently explained in Farmers Weekly (September 28), the environmental and animal welfare practices of NZ farmers will come under increased scrutiny in trade negotiations. I believe we’re good now, but we have just one chance to get it right for the international observers.
Getting it right will only happen as the result of a meaningful partnership between politicians, bureaucrats and the farming sector. We must have a co-operative approach.
It is pleasing to see that all political parties have agriculture in their manifestos. For the record, I believe some of the proposals and disbelieve others, and that’s across the board.
As Hoggard pointed out, it was a far cry from last election where our sector was treated as a political football. Times have changed and for the better.
Finally, I believe reality will prevail. You can’t cut off the hand that feeds and currently agriculture provides the only food on the table.
So, I’m optimistic going forward. The next government will need to meaningfully consult with farmers and have any proposals practically tested before they’re implemented.
Federated Farmers will need to be an integral part of that and positioning the organisation as being representative of farmers and politically neutral was smart
