Farmers Weekly In Focus

Rural Contractors NZ has launched a safety campaign targeting fatigue. Bryan talks with chief executive Andrew Olsen about the campaign and its messages, which target workers, farmers and managers. Andrew also highlights some of the challenges contractors face during the busy season and has a plea to the public for patience if they encounter contractors on the roads.

Federated Farmers Taranaki dairy chair Sam Ebbett previews the share farmer information roadshow next month. The events around the country bring together experts from across the industry who will offer advice on how to get the best out of share farming agreements and what to avoid.

Senior reporter Neal Wallace talks about two big issues down south. The wet weather has hit farmers in Southland with milk production down, pasture growth non-existent and paddocks badly damaged by stock and vehicles. There’s also a storm brewing between farmers and councils over interpretations of the RMA and the implementation of freshwater plans and now central government is involved.

Rural Contractors NZ has launched a safety campaign targeting fatigue. Bryan talks with chief executive Andrew Olsen about the campaign and its messages, which target workers, farmers and managers.

Andrew also highlights some of the challenges contractors face during the busy season and has a plea to the public for patience if they encounter contractors on the roads.

Senior reporter Neal Wallace talks about two big issues down south. The wet weather has hit farmers in Southland with milk production down, pasture growth non-existent and paddocks badly damaged by stock and vehicles.

There’s also a storm brewing between farmers and councils over interpretations of the RMA and the implementation of freshwater plans and now central government is involved.

Federated Farmers Taranaki dairy chair Sam Ebbett previews the share farmer information roadshow next month.

The events around the country bring together experts from across the industry who will offer advice on how to get the best out of share farming agreements and what to avoid.

Northland and Taranaki have teamed up to share information and expertise as they work to discover new crop and land-use options. Both regions have existing initiatives dedicated to exploring high-value, optimal land use alternatives and the development of value-add products and manufacturing opportunities. Bryan talked to the project manager in each region – Greg Hall in Northland and Michelle Bauer in Taranaki.

Federated Farmers Tararua president Thomas Read reckons it’s never too early to start succession planning. Having benefited from his parents’ foresight when they retired he’s started thinking about his own future, despite his kids still being at primary school.

Senior reporter Richard Rennie gives an update on a survey being carried out to uncover the drenching habits on New Zealand farms. With drench resistance a major challenge for farmers, will this data lead to viable solutions? He also explains why “fake honey” in the EU is a threat to NZ’s export returns in this vital market.

Northland and Taranaki have teamed up to share information and expertise as they work to discover new crop and land-use options. Both regions have existing initiatives, Branching Out in Taranaki and Tuputupu - Grow Northland in Northland, dedicated to exploring high-value, optimal land use alternatives and the development of value-add products and manufacturing opportunities.

These initiatives are building on existing regional strengths to grow economic value and export potential for New Zealand. Bryan talked to the project manager in each region – Greg Hall in Northland and Michelle Bauer in Taranaki.

Senior reporter Richard Rennie gives an update on a survey being carried out to uncover the drenching habits on New Zealand farms. With drench resistance a major challenge for farmers, will this data lead to viable solutions?

Honey producers in the European Union are launching a campaign against fake honey, which is a growing problem there. Apiculture NZ is supporting the move, saying that this wave of “not honey” threatens to impact our export returns in this vital market.

Federated Farmers Tararua president Thomas Read reckons it’s never too early to start succession planning. Having benefited from his parents’ foresight when they retired he’s started thinking about his own future, despite his kids still being at primary school.

With our regular host Bryan Gibson away on a break, senior Farmers Weekly contributing journalist Richard Rennie talks to Mike Petersen, chair of the Tukituki Water Security Project. The project is one of 149 that has made the government's Fast-Track Project list. Previously known as the Ruataniwha dam project, the Tukituki project takes a slightly different tack, prioritising environmental river flow, then human water needs and then irrigation demand. Mike Petersen talks about why the project matters to the region's future economic development, and how soon it could become a reality.

Federated Farmers meat and fibre chair Toby Williams is talking to Richard about the implications of the government's decision to loosen foreign investment regulations, and what it may mean for the primary sector. A recent survey placed New Zealand 38 out of 38 countries in terms of ease of foreign investment, something he sees as significantly throttling the country's ability to expand at both a processing level and farm level. He sees the loosening of the regulations also as a means of addressing the imbalance in foreign investment which has been encouraged to go into forestry, at the expense of pastoral farming.

Richard also catches up with colleague Neal Wallace and discusses the unintended consequence of regulations imposed in Southland that now mean its 3000 farmers have to seek resource consent in order to continue farming. The consent relates to the livestock urine being defined as an "incidental diffuse discharge" requiring resource consent, after a Court of Appeal ruling confirmed the regulation. The fracas has Environment Minister Penny Simmonds stepping in, describing it as unworkable. Richard talks to Neal about how the tangle arose, and what implications it has for the rest of the country, and future law making.

With our regular host Bryan Gibson away on a break, senior Farmers Weekly contributing journalist Richard Rennie talks to Mike Petersen, chair of the Tukituki Water Security Project in Hawke's Bay, talks about why he sees the project as being crucial for the region's future economic growth, and the potential it holds for unlocking more water not only for irrigation, but for urban expansion in a region already tightly constrained by water availability.

With dam projects often taking years to get started, Tukituki backers are confident that with the earlier work done under the Ruataniwha dam project, and sharing the same footprint, Tukituki will be starting sooner than later.