Telling farming’s positive stories at Morrinsville rally

Telling farming’s positive stories at Morrinsville rally

New Zealand is too small to have a rural/urban divide, Waikato Federated Farmers President Andrew McGiven told the farming rally in Morrinsville at noon today.

"We’d like to say to our urban cousins, be fully informed because we’d all like the opportunity to re-engage with you."

Federated Farmers national board member Chris Lewis said rather than attacking politicians and farming critics, the gathering was a deliberate attempt to tell the positive stories of farmers - what they put back into rural communities by their spending, employing staff, and volunteering for school boards, fire brigades, etc., the more than $1 million raised via the IHC Calf project, as well as the work the vast majority do to improve the environment.

"To be honest, I was a bit nervous about how it was going to go, but the whole tone was positive."

Mr McGiven, who farms at Te Aroha, and Morrinsville farmer Lloyd Downing, organised the event because of the "bad rap" those who work the land had been getting in the lead-up to the election. Judging from the turnout, estimated at 500-600 by those used to counting the size of a herd, that was a concern shared by many.

"As I look out into this crowd, I don’t see any faceless greedy corporates. I see a whole lot of small to medium business owners that are more often than not being run by Mum, Dad and the rest of the family chipping in.

"Every farmer here today will have a good news story about their farm, and the improvements they have made to make that farm more environmentally sustainable."
Mr McGiven said he had plenty of friends who had planted "thousands of trees and acres of manuka, not out of any expectation of public accolade but because it was the right thing to do.

"What I’m sick of is the cherry picking of data for political purposes, especially around water, to paint a picture that we are all environmental vandals. That is a desperate lie."

But he was also one of several speakers who acknowledged that while farmers have collectively invested hundreds of millions of dollars in reducing their environmental footprint, they - like other sectors of New Zealand - still had plenty more to do.

Nigel McWilliam, who chairs the district’s Chamber of Commerce, said the town of 7000 was built on the dairy industry and farmers made a huge contribution to both the district and national economy.

Mr McGiven said there wouldn’t be many farmers who had made much money over the last couple of years, so any extra taxes would delay the return to profitability and have a detrimental effect on rural communities.

"Because let’s face it. You can’t be green if you’re in the red."

ENDS

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