Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Minister of Agriculture Todd McClay heard how bad life on the farm is when they attended Federated Farmers Restoring Farmer Confidence Tour at Mystery Creek last month.
The organisation has been surveying its 13,000 members across 24 regions for 12 years and Federated Farmers national president Wayne Langford said farmer confidence was the “worst it has ever been”.
Christopher Luxon talks to farmers at Mystery Creek
High interest rates, inflation and compliance costs had hit farmers in the wallet.
“It’s been a pretty tough year. There’s a large number of farms that have been bumping some bills out month to month and a lot that have only just come right recently,” Langford said.
While the National-led government had “come through” on nine of a dozen action points the organisation had asked for, it was still waiting for a law change allowing young farmers to access their KiwiSaver, a rethink of the Emissions Trading Scheme Forestry Rules and building the farmer workforce through immigration reform.
Luxon told the meeting there was nothing more important to New Zealand than the rural sector.
McClay told the crowd every time the Government finds a rule that doesn’t work it cuts it.
Waipā farmer Bruce Rowe has a discussion with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon at the Federated Farmers Restoring Farmer Confidence Tour.
