A new campaign has been launched calling for Kiwis to back farmers so that they can continue to produce the world’s best beef and lamb - and they need your help.
A campaign called Kiwis Backing Farmers has been launched by Beef + Lamb New Zealand Ltd, a farmer-owned, industry organisation representing New Zealand’s sheep and beef farmers, and 50 Shades of Green, a group of volunteers concerned about the future of New Zealand’s food and natural fibre security.
The main purpose of the campaign is to raise awareness around the impact of the Government’s environment policies on sheep and beef farmers that will negatively impact our economy, the environment and the livelihoods of everyday Kiwis.
The campaign highlights that farmers are up for change, but the scale and pace of what farmers are currently facing is too much.
A hot topic in the campaign is carbon-farming. As the carbon price increases, more and more productive farms are being sold and converted into carbon farms so fossil fuel emitters can offset their emissions rather than reduce them in the first place.
The campaign suggests that the Government urgently needs to curb the out-of-control conversion of sheep and beef farms into carbon.
“Farmers are not anti-forestry, many of us already have trees on our farms and are planting more,” explains Tarsh Newport, a sheep and beef farmer in Tasman.
“But we believe in the right tree, right place, right purpose. The land being sold off will have a direct impact to our primary sector and a very damaging continuous effect to our entire nation.”
New Zealand’s meat industry is the second largest goods exporter for the country, and worth a lot, generating around $11 billion in export revenue a year. The meat industry is also the nation’s largest manufacturing sector, providing jobs for around 25,000 people at more than 60 locations throughout the country.
“It’s in everyone’s best interests to advocate against prime agriculture land parcels being sold off for carbon anywhere in the country,” Tarsh says.
“Please get amongst the Kiwis Backing Farmers campaign, go to our website and educate yourself so that our country has a strong meat future and export.”
All details can be found on the website: www.kiwisbackingfarmers.nz
