Federated Farmers of New Zealand

 

Drought 2010

Where drought is declared by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF), Federated Farmers will work for all farmers in affected areas.

You do not have to be a member of the Federation to ring the 0800 DROUGHT (376 844), although membership directly funds this service.

Current Federated Farmers services include:

• The "0800 DROUGHT" (0800 376 844) service to coordinate available feed (please see below).
• Coordination with the Rural Support Trust, MAF and other support service providers.
• Links to other organisations who publish drought related material useful to farmers.
• Monitoring the situation at a local, provincial and national level to unlock additional services if required.
• Access to legal and advice services (members only).

Current drought affected areas

Northland

As of Wednesday, 20 January a medium level adverse event has been declared in Northland.

Waikato/Hauraki/Coromandel

As of Thursday, 8 April a medium level adverse event has been declared in the Waikato, Hauraki and Coromandel areas.

Bay of Plenty

As of Tuesday, 20 April a medium level adverse event has been declared in the Western Bay of Plenty, Rotorua, Kawera, Opotiki, Taranaki and Whakatane areas.

Taranaki

As of Tuesday, 20 April a medium level adverse event has been declared in the South Taranki area.

South Canterbury

As of Tuesday, 20 April a medium level adverse event has been declared in the Mackenzie, Waimate and Waitaki areas.

Otago

As of Tuesday, 20 April a medium level adverse event has been declared in the Central Otago and Dunedin City areas.

We have put together the following information sheets to help Otago farmers during this time.

Federated Farmers feed list

The Federated Farmers feed list is a platform to introduce farmers who want to buy and sell feed. You do not have to be a Federated Farmers member to access this service.

To access this service please call 0800 DROUGHT (376 844) or to view the Federated Farmers feed list, please click the link below.

Rural Support Trusts

Set up by Federated Farmers and the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Rural Support Trusts provide assistance to rural communities in times of hardship, including during adverse events such as drought and floods.

The Rural Support Trusts can provide services such as:

• Co-ordinating an initial response to an adverse event.
• Helping farmers decide on business options.
• Acting as advocates for financial assistance.
• Providing stress management services (or making referrals if appropriate).

More information can be found by clicking here.

Federated Farmers Northland contacts

Northland spokespeople:

• Provincial president, Denis Anderson, 09 434 6551, 0274 376 551
• Adverse events spokesperson, David Rose, 03 235 2619, 027 414 2573

Auckland spokespeople:

• Provincial president, Phil York, 03 486 09 292 8843, 027 290 5418
• Adverse events spokesperson, David Rose, 03 235 2619, 027 414 2573

Hauraki/Coromandel Spokespeople:

• Provincial president, John Sanford, 07 869 0080, 027 220 5646
• Adverse events spokesperson, David Rose, 03 235 2619, 027 414 2573

Waikato spokespeople:

• Provincial president, Stewart Wadey, 07 888 1808, 027 277 9996
• Adverse events spokesperson, David Rose, 03 235 2619, 027 414 2573

Bay of Plenty SPOKESPEOPLE:

• Provincial president, Alan Law, 07 304 9536, 0274 171 818
• Adverse events spokesperson, David Rose, 03 235 2619, 027 414 2573

Rotorua/Taupo Spokespeople:

• Provincial president, Neil Heather, 07 357 2142, 0274 214 050
• Adverse events spokesperson, David Rose, 03 235 2619, 027 414 2573

Taranaki

• Provincial president, Peter Adamski, 06 751 4217, 027 555 0875
• Adverse events spokesperson, David Rose, 03 235 2619, 027 414 2573

South Canterbury Spokespeople:

• Provincial president, Dr William Rolleston, 03 687 4050, 027 246 0634
• Adverse events spokesperson, David Rose, 03 235 2619, 027 414 2573

North Otago Spokespeople:

• Provincial president, Ross Ewing, 03 439 5292, 0274 851 362
• Adverse events spokesperson, David Rose, 03 235 2619, 027 414 2573

Otago Spokespeople:

• Provincial president, Mike Lord, 03 486 2730, 0274 382 097
• Adverse events spokesperson, David Rose, 03 235 2619, 027 414 2573

Policy contact:

• David Burt, 0800 327 646 or email, by clicking here.

Media contacts:

• David Broome, 04 470 2160
• Lidewij Oosterhoff, 04 470 2162

Federated Farmers 0800 lines:

• 0800 DROUGHT (376 844)
• 0800 FARMING (327 646)

Local, provincial and national monitoring

• Federated Farmers Meat & Fibre, National Council and National Board members from around the country continue to monitor the situation.
• If you have any information that you think we should be aware of about the drought in your area, use the following links to contact your provincial Meat & Fibre representative, National Council member or a National Board member.
• At a national level, Federated Farmers will be represented on the National Adverse Events Committee, set up by the Minister of Agriculture, should this be reconvened. This committee serves as an important forum where we can bring other stakeholders up to date with issues facing farmers. Another important role is to provide a way for affected stakeholders' representatives to communicate with each other, in order to work out the best way of addressing common problems.

Drought related publications

The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry

The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) has a number of publications available that will help manage the drought. Click here to visit MAF's website.

Meat & Wool New Zealand

Meat & Wool New Zealand is another source of resources about drought management. Click here to visit Meat & Wool New Zealand's website.

The National Climate Centre

The National Climate Centre (NIWA) has a lot of information about about climate change and rainfall projections. Click here to visit NIWA's website.

Dairy NZ

For a number of resources on farming through drought, please click here.

Large-scale event recovery measures

A special recovery measure, at the discretion of central government, may be made available in addition to the small-scale and medium-scale recovery measures, following a large-scale adverse event (e.g. 2004 lower North Island floods or 1988 Cyclone Bola).

The special recovery measure would be in the form of a reimbursed cash grant (i.e. damage assessed, cash reimbursement provided once repairs were made). This grant is targeted at commercial entities from agriculture, horticulture and forestry sectors. Financial assistance will also be targeted at property restoration and production restoration (excluding slips) and includes:

• uninsurable infrastructure;
• re-cropping of uninsurable crops;
• re-grassing uninsurable pasture;
• afforestation of uninsurable forestry losses;
• and initial clean up of silt and debris (where uninsurable).

Reimbursement is set at a rate of 50 percent, with an excess of $10,000 or 10 percent of qualifying damage costs (whichever is greater). Total funds provided by the Special Recovery Measure are also capped at $250,000 per farm business.

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