Speeches
Achieving better lake water quality together
Released 12 Aug 2008
Farmers, as part of the community, are recreational users of the lake and want to improve lake water quality too. New Zealand dairy farming has very low environmental impact by world standards, farmers are working on solutions and have identified areas where further investigation should happen. As owners and managers of land resources farmers believe a partnership approach is the only approach that will be sustainable in the long-term. With a robust and open processes to find a range of solutions the whole community will have confidence to move forward together to achieve the outcomes all desire. Let’s stop facing off, instead let’s work together for solutions. Read more »
Charlie Pedersen - Address to National Conference
Released 25 Jun 2008
"Food for Thought" our conference headline is designed to help connect New Zealand with what we do. Those who seek to frame and marginalise us often use terminology like the "agricultural industry" as if we are a factory with belching chimneys or they use "increasingly corporate" as if we are dominated by boards and shareholders with dispassionate CEO's on performance KPI's. Read more »
Keith Kelly - Meat & Fibre Chairman’s Address
Released 24 Jun 2008
To survive as farmers in New Zealand it appears we must give up our land, pay excessive rates, taxes, high interest - all for the common good, and for no benefit to farmers. Never before has there been such a need for the knowledge and experience of our lobby group, Federated Farmers. In a world that is rapidly heading towards starvation we are being led by a bureaucracy that believes food come from supermarkets not farms. This must be changed. Read more »
Frank Brenmuhl - Dairy Chairman's Address
Released 24 Jun 2008
In February I said at our council meeting, wake up New Zealand it's election year. This is when politicians make promises and tell us of the benefits that their efforts have bestowed upon us. It is the time when political parties, try to influence the public in order to justify their existence. My message and request was clear: Look at what they do, it is often very different from what they say. Read more »
Andrew Gillanders - Grain & Seed Chairman's Address
Released 24 Jun 2008
The 2008 season will be remembered for the rise in world food commodity prices, followed by an even bigger rise in input costs. With many of the agricultural commentators and farmers realising that their input costs will have doubled by the time they have harvested and delivered their crops. Why would you sell grain and seed if the price does not reflect the massive rises in input costs as well as demand exceeding supply. It is now our turn to return our industry to the profitability that we once had. Read more »
Donald Aubrey - Broadband Or Bust
Released 23 Jun 2008
Federated Farmers has long advocated the need for an early roll-out of broadband to rural areas. We know the cost is high and the number of subscribers is limited but for the agricultural sector to provide the nation with its wealth and everyday New Zealanders with their incomes we must remain competitive. Read more »
Alan Law - Clean Streams Accord Signing BOP
Released 16 Jun 2008
We have worked closely for many years with Environment BOP to develop some positive environmental outcomes. We, as farmers in this region, have long held the view that we have a responsibility to ensure that waterways and the land in general is not polluted by our operations. Read more »
Bruce McNab - A farmer's perspective
Released 11 Jun 2008
Every one of us has a responsibility to manage the adverse affects on the environment. The environment is not just the natural environment, but the social, cultural and economic environments in which we, the human race, must manage in order to exist and function. Read more »
Charlie Pedersen - Address to Provincial AGMs
Released 01 May 2008
For a start we have to remember that we are first and foremost - food producers - that's what farmers do. I think that's an important point because I'm not sure that many people today understand what farming is about and certainly very few have links with the land. In my youth and yours there were townie relatives who came and holidayed in the country. Today people have a relationship with their supermarket and I'm certain many have little idea of how a farm operates. Read more »
Charlie Pedersen - Emissions Trading
Released 20 Apr 2008
When I began farming 30 years ago I envisaged that my lifetime focus would be on increasing production and profitability, managing adverse events such as floods and droughts and probably having some concerns about the marketing of the products that my cows, cattle and sheep produce. I never thought that I'd end up trading in emissions from my livestock or having to deal with the threats from non-food producers that I currently face. Read more »
