Government ‘not nearly ambitious enough' for rural broadband - Read more »

Federated Farmers has One Plan under the microscope - Read more »

Farmers not on Forest & Bird's artistic tête-à-tête - Read more »

To view the full list of media releases or to view any other publications, click here.

New Chairperson for Federated Farmers Goats - Long-serving Chairperson of Federated Farmers Goats, Dawn Pirani announced earlier this year at the industry group's Conference that she would not be seeking a further term as Chairperson. Two nominations were for her replacement were received and these were considered at the Goats Board meeting this week. After an election, John Woodward was announced the new Chairperson. John has been involved in the mohair fibre business in Drury for over 30 years and has served numerous terms on the Board of Mohair New Zealand, as its warehouse representative. He stood down from this position earlier this year, to be replaced by former Federated Farmers North Canterbury provincial president, Chris Sundstrum.

Goat meat levy funds - Federated Farmers Goats Executive has decided to continue questioning the distribution of the residual goat meat levy funds. Information provided by Beef + Lamb NZ has been sketchy at best, according to the industry group's outgoing Chairperson, Dawn Pirani. She said the Executive was given a strong message at the industry group's Conference this year that they should take every step to ensure that the remaining levy funds are used for the purpose for which they were raised. She said that Beef + Lamb's apparent reluctance to respond to Federated Farmers enquiries was disturbing. Incoming Goats Industry Group Chairperson, John Woodward, has undertaken to continue pressuring Beef + Lamb for a satisfactory response.

Provincial president speaks at rural marketing conference - Wendy Clark, Auckland provincial president, was a conference panellist last week helping educate marketers about ‘what are the current needs and interests of farmers and how does this effect your marketing strategy'.  The other panellists were Liz Evans, President of Rural Women NZ and a representative from Young Farmers.  Former staff member, Michael Hansen, was a delegate and rated this particular session the best of the conference.

Waikato Candidates with a rural voice - Now that all the nominations are in for candidates for the Local Government elections, it's a good time to see what rural representation there is in our area. The Waikato region has six district councils, a City Council and a Regional Council, as well as the Waikato District Health Board. Local government is  fundamental to all New Zealand communities, but unfortunately, statistics show that only 14 percent of New Zealand's population is classified as rural, of which only 8 percent vote.  We have a number of Federated Farmers Waikato members who have been asked to stand in the local government elections; it's good to see that the leadership within Federated Farmers is noticed.

Hauraki District Plan - The Hauraki District Plan is now officially open for submissions and these are due by 19 October 2010.  Federated Farmers will be closely analysing the Plan to ensure that normal farming activities won't need to get resource consents. Advisories will be sent asking for members' opinions on certain aspects of the Plan, so we can incorporate your views into the submission. Watch this space. For more information, please contact Regional Policy Advisor, Rhea Dasent by clicking here or call 0800 327 646.

South Waikato landscapes and native bush - South Waikato District Council has invited Federated Farmers to comment on their Outstanding Natural Landscapes and Significant Natural Areas discussion paper as part of the District Plan review. Consultants have identified scenic landscapes and areas of indigenous vegetation that they think need special protection and the Council is now asking Federated Farmers opinion on these areas and how they should be managed. Federated Farmers takes a special interest because often these areas are found on farmland and district plan rules have the ability to constrain farming activities. For more information, please contact Regional Policy Advisor, Rhea Dasent by clicking here or call 0800 327 646.

Horizons One Plan - Determinations on Horizons One Plan were released on the 24 August.  Federated Farmers invested considerable resources, both staff and elected members, into submissions and hearings on the various parts of the plan. As originally written, the One Plan would have caused significant financial hardship for many farmers in the region and for others it would have made everyday farm management practices even more difficult or impossible. It was with quiet optimism that we received the revised Plan hoping that our points had been well made to the independent hearing panel.  Overall there has been a considerable shift from what was originally proposed and most of the changes are more desirable from a farming perspective.  We will appeal on a number of issues but thankfully we have been granted 60 working days to formulate our appeals. It will be a busy time for staff and elected representatives. Mediation will commence in 2011. For more information, please contact Regional Policy Advisor, Tessa Mills, by clicking here or on 0800 327 646.   

Unwanted or Expired Agrichemical Collection - The Agrecovery Rural Recycling programme will shortly be holding collections for unwanted or expired agrichemicals in the Auckland region. Booking your chemicals for disposal is easy, simply click here to book disposal online or contact Agrecovery on freephone 0800 247 326. Bookings are required by 8 October. For more information, please visit the Agrecovery website by clicking here, or call the freephone number above. Don't miss out - book your unwanted or expired agrichemicals for disposal today!

Fonterra Dividend Related Payment Adjustment (DRPA) form  - Your farm owner has an updated form that has to be returned to Fonterra by Tuesday, 31 August 2010. Please ensure you have had a catch up with your owner to confirm payment arrangements. Sight and sign this form and make a copy for your records. Remember, Fonterra's relationship is to the shareholder, not the sharemilker.

Federated Farmers feed list - The Federated Farmers feed lists, which include both feed wanted and feed available, can be accessed viby clicking here a the 0800 DROUGHT line (0800 376 844) or by clicking here. The drought line and feed lists are available to both members and non-members of Federated Farmers.

Rural Butchers Conference and AGM - The 2010 Federated Farmers Rural Butchers Conference and AGM is to be held at the Rendezvous Hotel, corner of Mayoral Drive and Vincent Street, Auckland on Saturday, 25 September. An agenda is currently being developed and will be sent out in the near future, but we can announce that it will include a field trip on the afternoon of Friday, 24 September. Registration forms will also be sent out shortly. As usual, members will need to arrange their own travel to and from the conference. If you are interested in attending this event, please contact David Burt, by clicking here or by calling 0800 327 646.

Federated Farmers Meat & Fibre council meeting - The Federated Farmers Meat & Fibre council will meet in Wellington on Tuesday, 26 and Wednesday, 27 October at the Mercure Wellington, 345 The Terrace, Wellington. The programme is currently being developed and registration forms can be downloaded by clicking here. If you are interested in attending this event, please contact Kimberley Wadsworth by clicking here or Meat & Fibre Policy Advisor, David Burt, by calling 0800 327 646 by clicking here.

Meeting with Dr Allan Bollard - Federated Farmers Grain & Seed will host a meeting, with guest speaker Dr Allan Bollard, Reserve Bank Governor at Darfield High School Hall from 7.30-9.30 on Thursday 9 September. The numbers for this meeting are limited, so it will be a case of first in first served and you must RSVP to be able to enter the meeting. To RSVP, please contact Grain & Seed Policy Advisor, Carly Sluys, by clicking here or by calling 0800 327 646. Please RSVP by Friday 3 September.

Science Forum 2010 - NZ Institute of Agricultural & Horticultural Science 2010 Forum will be held at Lincoln University (Stewart 1 lecture theatre) on Friday 3 September. The Forum is entitled "where do we want our dairy industry to be in twenty years time?" and will feature a very talented line up of speakers. The dairy industry is critical for the New Zealand economy and standard of living, this Forum will try to explore where the industry will be in twenty years time and how this will affect all New Zealanders. Federated Farmers members are offered a discounted price of $120 to register for the Forum. For more information, please contact Ann Thompson, by clicking here or by calling 0800 327 646.

Build a successful career and enhance productivity with Agriculture ITO - Want to learn more about the health and husbandry of the animals on your farm? What about how to maximise milk production or manage your farm business? Agriculture ITO offers National Diplomas, National Certificates and short courses to suit any level in a variety of farming areas. To enrol or find out more, contact your local Agriculture ITO training adviser today on 0800 691 111 or visit their website at by clicking here.

Thinking of taking up tertiary study but feeling nervous? - The Open Polytechnic's Tertiary Study Skills certificate provides a good start and you will be assigned a mentor to help keep you on track. You will also receive a voucher which can be used to enrol in any Level 5 degree or diploma course. For more information, click here or call 0508 650 200. Remember, Federated Farmers members get a 20 percent discount. Click here to download an enrolment form.

Free Solahart Panel - Simply buy a GreenGlo Saver mains pressure tank and receive a FREE Solahart panel and free solar controller. This is an amazing offer - go solar for free. For more details, please visit GreenGlo's website, by clicking here or call 0800 769 377.

Treat yourself with winesonline.co.nz - We have a great new selection of Gold medal winning wines at up to 60 percent off the retail price. Buy from winesonline and receive great value wines and free Belgian chocolates. Shop at http://www.winesonline.co.nz/.

Versatile Buildings very, very big sale - Versatile's very, very, big sale is on in August only. To find out what's on offer visit http://www.versatile.co.nz/  or call 0800 VERSATILE.

More member benefits and offers - To view special discounts exclusive to Federated Farmers members, please call 0800 327 646 or click here to log onto our members only area.

Mr Terry Bunn of Cable Bay has a first class honours MSc in Zoology and has responded to a couple of points. I'll give the blog over to Terry:

"...Russel Norman was as pleased as punch about being a worm farmer. Worms recycle carbon so that what was locked up in vegetation gets 'respired back' as carbon dioxide. If Dr Norman was that keen on reducing carbon in the atmosphere he would bury his scraps such that they didn't get recycled - then he would be sequestering carbon...."

Blog of TVNZ 7's Back Benches host, Wallace Chapman, following its ETS special - Read more »