New CEO - Federated Farmers of New Zealand welcomed Conor English to the position of chief executive officer today. President, Charlie Pedersen said Mr English has the ideal experience and skills to build on a solid foundation. Mr English started his career as a sheep, cattle, crop and forestry farmer. He has established relationships with many of the Federation's key stakeholders. Prior to this appointment Mr English was Commercial Director and second-in-charge of The Property Group, a consultancy with 80 staff. He is the former chief executive officer of the New Zealand Property Institute and has had roles in other lobby groups and in the Beehive. Mr English starts at Federated Farmers Wellington office 21 July 2008.

Cut The Conflict - Federated Farmers is appealing for more dialogue and less confrontation on environmental issues. Speaking at the Environmental Defence Society conference in Auckland, the Federation's spokesperson for the environment, Bruce McNab said that the Environment Court should be a last resort and that discussion and mediation are better and more effective tools for resolving problems.

United On Water - This week primary sector groups including Federated Farmers released a document that reconfirms their commitment to the sustainable management of the nation's valuable freshwater resources. The Primary Sector Water Partnership Leadership Document is designed to establish a basis whereby the sector can engage with regional councils and co-ordinate the efforts of the primary sector and research organisations with the objective of improving water use and quality.

Farmers Favour Access Bill - Federated Farmers says it generally supports the Walking Access Bill currently before parliament, and says it's particularly happy with the intent of the legislation not to interfere with property rights of land owners. Board member, Bruce McNab told a parliamentary select committee that the provision in the Bill for public access to remain subject to negotiation and agreement with the individual landowner is very important to farmers. He says without this provision the federation would have opposed the legislation.

Consideration Taken - Taranaki Regional Council has adopted a key recommendation made by Federated Farmers. This recommendation includes the district council being told it must consider financial incentives when acquiring private land for reserves. These incentives could include rates relief, grants or compensation. The recommendation from Federated Farmers comes in the midst of the council reviewing its Regional Policy Statement which has a major impact on local authority rules and regulations.

Input for Future of Canterbury - Federated Farmers members took a clear message to Environment Canterbury this week at the regional council's feedback and future focus meetings. The message was that the regional council should take a less regulatory approach and ensure that it considers input equally from all parties. Federated Farmers also made clear that Environment Canterbury must stick to its obligations under the Resource Management Act and not delve into the business of territorial authorities.

Stock Moooovement - Federated Farmers has two councils moving in the right direction on their review of stock movement bylaws. Federated Farmers submitted and appeared at hearings at the Selwyn and Waimakariri district councils recently. The results are out and Selwyn District Counicl has changed its bylaw so that notification of authorities 48 hours before moving stock is now not necessary. This change was directly due to a submission by the Federation. Members were disappointed in the lack of changes made to the Waimakariri bylaw as it still required two pilot vehicles and at least one drover on many roads in the district, with no option to use signs instead. But Federated Farmers lobbied the council before finalisation of the bylaw and the council has now pushed back the date so they have a further chance for review.

Farmers Find Favour - New Plymouth District Council accepted recommendations by Federated Farmers for their stock movement bylaw and undertook that any future policy development will involve consultation with the Federation. The adjusted law now excludes animals which are led or ridden. Other amendments include: stock can be on the road up to nine times within three weeks before special requirements need to be met; stock crossings are now permitted during hours of darkness with appropriate warning devices in place; and one person may control stock on the road for droves up to 20kms.

No Offence - New Plymouth District Council agreed to and adopted a recommendation by Federated Farmers to be clearer in its ‘Animals Bylaw'. The bylaw exists to help control any nuisances animals can cause. This includes any bother arising from animal housing and the slaughtering of livestock. The existing bylaw requires all waste from slaughter to be dealt with by ‘approved means'. The Biosecurity Act and the Health Act detail these approved means including that carcasses must not cause offence, be harmful to health and that untreated meat must not be fed to pigs. Federated Farmers asked that a reference be put into the bylaw so that it was clear and easily accessible to people what the ‘approved means' meant.

Broadband Fund - Federated Farmers is in the process of writing a submission on the government's planned $500 million broadband investment fund. The fund was announced in the budget and $75 million is set aside for rural broadband initiatives, with the goal to extend the reach of broadband into underserved areas. Have your say by contacting policy advisor William McGimpsey on 0800 327 646 or email: mwcgimpsey@fedfarm.org.nz.

Seedgrowers Say Sure - Herbage Seedgrowers have said yes to the roll over of the Non Proprietary Cultivars levy. While the vote return was 28 percent, of those 72.9 percent said yes and of the tonnage grown, 95 percent said yes. This strong vote of support gives the Herbage Seedgrowers Subsection of Federated Farmers the mandate to ask the Minister of Agriculture to roll over the existing, Commodity Levies (Herbage and Uncertified Herbage Seeds) Order 2003 into a new commodity levy for another five years. This will mean that the Grasslands varieties of Nui, Huia, Manawa, Moata, Ruanui, Pawera, and Pitau will be available to be grown as common varieties and able to be freely marketed.

Terms of Trade Rise - According to Statistics New Zealand, the merchandise terms of trade rose 4.1 percent in the March quarter on the back of a 4.5 percent increase in merchandise export prices. The terms of trade has now risen for six consecutive quarters. The increase in the prices for dairy products over the last year is the largest since 1972. The dairy products index has also reached the highest level since the series began in the March 1950 quarter. The rise was mainly driven by higher prices for food and beverages, particularly dairy products, which rose 19.7 percent this quarter. Prices rose across all dairy product sub-groups, including; milk, cream, cheese and butter. Other contributors to this rise include rising meat prices.

Better Bee Management - An information brochure on understanding and managing the bee population on your farm has been published by Agcarm. It is a must have for all beekeepers, farmers and agrichemical applicators. The beekeeping industry acknowledges the initiative and will ensure a copy is included with all pollination contracts for the 2008/9 season.

One Event - Delegates for Federated Farmers national conference June 24 - 26 should receive their conference papers early next week. Agendas for Meat & Fibre, Dairy and Grain & Seeds are also available online. For more information contact: adminpolicy@fedfarm.org.nz.

Farmers' Favourite - Pickup your copy of the popular Federated Farmers diary at Mystery Creek Fieldays, last day Saturday. You can find Federated Farmers at site PE2 inside the grand pavilion. National Board members are talking rural politics and membership recruiters are on hand if you need to fix up your bill for the year or sign up a friend.

Lines Trouble? - Members experiencing difficulties with Marlborough Lines should contact provincial president Geoff Evans 03 572 4809, stronvar1@xtra.co.nz or a member of the National Board. This call follows the provinces last meeting where concerns were expressed.

Short On Dairy Workers - A story on the dairy worker shortage which includes an interview with Federated Farmers Dairy chairman, Frank Brenmuhl will be aired this coming Sunday, 15 June at 8:30am on TV One's Asia Downunder Programme. The programme is repeated on: Stratos on Sunday 7pm; TVNZ 7 on Wednesday 6:30pm, Thursday 10:10am, Saturday 8:35am; CTV on Monday at 8:30pm; Channel 9 on Monday 6.30pm; Family TV Tuesdays at 7:30pm and Saturdays at midday; Tararua Television on Sunday night at 7pm. The programme is also available online: www.tvnz.co.nz, keyword: Asia Downunder or www.youtube.com/asiadownunder.