NZ farmers reject handouts

Stuff reports:

Dairy farmers across the Tasman are looking to politicians to support them through the current milk price slump but their New Zealand counterparts do not expect any such treatment from the Budget.

Deputy Australian Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce, after a three-day trip to Victoria, last week called for a bipartisan approach to develop a dairy industry support package to help dairy farmers struggling with milk price downgrades from the two biggest players in that market – Murray Goulburn and Fonterra.

But New Zealand dairy farmers, many with memories going back to the farm subsidy days of the 1970s and early 1980s, don’t expect any special treatment from the Budget.

In general terms, Federated Farmers wants the Government to keep a tight rein on the country’s finances, to help farmers improve productivity, and to address the imbalances posed by Auckland’s booming property market.

But Federated Farmers dairy chairman Andrew Hoggard said dairy farmers did not want handouts.

So refreshing to have a sector group reject handouts as a solution.

“The Budget can’t do anything about the world price so that’s at the forefront of our minds at the moment,” Hoggard said.

If your business involves a global commodity such as dairy or coal or oil, you’re at the mercy of the global market.