Federated Farmers Goats
Representing New Zealand's Goat farmers
The Goats Industry Group first became associated with Federated Farmers in 2000 when Mohair New Zealand (an Incorporated Society in its own right) was accepted as an Industry Group. Mohair New Zealand was significantly involved in the promotion of the angora goat and mohair fleece. Increasingly, however, it also found itself advocating for the whole goat farming industry on resource management matters.
Its main work involved submitting for less stringent controls on goat farming in general than were being proposed in a number of District Plans being drafted under the (then new) Resource Management Act. Many of the proposals stemmed from an ignorance of modern goat farming techniques and practices among the regulators and it would be fair to say that a sizeable majority of our submissions achieved success once these people were "brought up to date".
The expertise of Federated Farmers policy team in assisting in this is immeasurable according to MWNZ Goat Advisory Group member Ian Pirani. Ian has been involved in many submissions throughout the North Island, maintains that joining with Federated Farmers "Saved goat farming in New Zealand". He says that without the work that Feds put into submissions many goat farmers, irrespective of breed, would have been regulated out of business.
This work, benefiting ALL goat farmers is one reason why Federated Farmers National Council approved a name change to Federated Farmers Goats in 2007
Federated Farmers Goats has an Executive Committee comprising 6 members: 3 Producer representatives elected at large, plus a Warehouse representative, Goat Advisory/RMA member and registrar/membership officer who are appointed at the Groups annual conference.
The Goats industry group has a board of up-to six members, including the registrar and one representative from each of the Mohair Fibre Traders Group and the Meat & Wool New Zealand Goat Advisory Group. This board sets the annual programme of work and lobbies government for a regulatory environment which is complementary to farming goats.
Federated Farmers Goats Contacts
