Federated Farmers concerns on Southland climate report stuff.co.nz - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from stuff.co.nz Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Federated Farmers Southland senior vice president Bernadette Hunt said while they strongly encouraged anybody with available grazing to take up the MPI’s call, they must also consider their own needs throughout the winter. “It’s a great thing to do if people do have grazing available,” Hunt said, but farmers must make sure they’re “not leaving themselves short”. “We had a request from north Canterbury even before the floods, so we know they’re doing it tough,” she said. The current worker shortage in the agriculture sector shouldn’t be a factor in Southland’s ability to assist in flood recovery. Instead, it would primarily be dependent on the feed farmer’s already had on hand, she said.
A farmer protest group is not changing its stance against letting public servants onto land to survey natural areas, despite an indication they may be compensated for losing land.
Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor told about 130 farmers via a livestream video link that the Government had decided to defer the winter grazing rules until May 2022. “’We have taken on board the advice from the Southland Advisory Group and have decided to park the changes for a year,’’ O’Connor said. O’Connor said the Government needed time to work through the issues around slope, pugging rules and sowing dates, and it would involve ‘’more than tweaks’’. “There is still a focus on no further water degradation and restoring water quality,’’ O’Connor said. Farmers have expressed their frustrations around the unworkable winter grazing rules with hundreds attending a rally at the Southern Field Days site in mid-February.