Hi people. Have made a mental note at the end of Sept to look up to see how many readers are still with me. It will have been 11 months since the local body elections, and I will be keen to see whether my readers are still interested.
On another note ,my wife, son and I travelled to Brisbane early in July.Our daughter and her family live there. Grt place, so much to do, and the weather. Wonderful. Brillient days, blue sky and a frost every morn. We all got colds. Sharrons brother flew us over in his big Air Bus A 380, 400 and something people on board. What a machine. After we landed in Brisbane, and all the passengers departed, we got a guided tour. Grt bar/lounge area x2 ,with shower for 2 . Yes shower for 2 or more. Emirates tried to limit the number to 1 at a time but gave up. Whooa. grt fun if I was 30 yrs younger.
We got to sit in the captains seat, and hold the steering wheel. Had our photos taken and a nice chat to the co-pilot, a Mexican chap . Really nice guy. What astounded me was how small the cockpit is. Tiny.
Sharron was just stoked to have Wayne fly us over. Farmers son from Taumarunui, who just wanted to fly a topdressing plane. Has not got school certificate, hated school, just wanted to get there and did it all himself. He flew the first A380 into Auckland to grt media fanfare 10 yrs or so ago and then spent the next couple of hrs evading the media.
Well down to busseness. I see that Fonterra have had second thoughts about herd homes, and my view. Sorry guys too late. Where were you 7 years ago. Yes that is right, holding Regional Councils hand. Or please do not tell me you did not know what your environmental arm was up to. There it is on page 2 of the NZ Farmer (July 1). Herd Homes caution urged. “Dairy” farmers need to be “very careful” about the extent they use herd homes, says Fonterra Chair John Wilson. Significant capital invested. Well well. What was I saying a few years ago. Regional Plans are about adding cost and destroying wealth. Now here it is written in print. Look at the huge drop in forcast payout, over $2/kg and could well go lower. In fact it must surely do so as the lastest auctions for powder are down in excess of 40% yr on yr. Grass the cheapest and most efficient .
Going back abit to May, how many of you picked abit of a storm created by the PM. Here it is in NZ Herald Editorial A24 26th May. PM right to put environmental bias of the RMA to a vote at the up and coming elections. Mr Key says it is a important issue, going to the heart of the question: which is more important, the environment or the economy. Goes on to to clarify the act, no development if it cannot be mitigated. Might be abit of a overstatement on my part, but. He is dead right. Although I still see plenty of houses, shops, hospitals,highways and byways happening. Only place it appears to be relevent is in the productive economy. The trendy lefty, and the Maori activist including the Maori Party do not want any changes. Seems they have not grasped the fact that all their material benefits as above, have to be paid for some how, and continuing to bludge off the foriegn investor is not going to cut the mustard for ever. Honestly. It would seem as if they are quite prepared for a default, or heavens forbid, create a default by the NZ Govt at some time in the future, of our foriegn borrowing. But then these turkys all look pretty well paid and probably are stacking it away in some foriegn bank and are planning on bringing it all back once our NZ $ plunges through the floor, becoming over night zillioneers in NZ $’s. Fantasy world stuff huh. Who knows how these guys think. Lets face it, I have been on the mark to date, and the drop in the dairy pay out (Fonterra) is going to be real wake up for the Industry and NZ as a whole. On that note I am amazed at the water quality in Aussi. Pretty poor. Heaps of sediment. All flat land, but the clarity dreadfull. All natural. Cannot do anything about it. Quite the opposite to NZ. We are flogging our selves into economic oblivion over water quality, and believing the world will not buy out Agricultural products if we do not sought our environmental problems out, all the whilist Aussie cocky’s and the economy in general, keep on keeping on trucking.
But then what about going back and reading my previous posts on the RMA and the Treaty Settlement process including the Treaty of Waitangi. Believe me we are not a democracy. We play at it. Time to go.guys. Quite frightening really.
I read in the Farmers Weekly, thats right the Farmers Weekly ,not the NZ farmer, it took me a week or to to get it right, it seems the columist Jon who ever, get the pricker with the Weekly and started up the NZ Farmer. Any way the Farmers Weekly June the 30th pg 2 and 23 ,we have Rabo-bank executive Bill Cordingly saying, “Plenty of room for sheep meats at the premium end of the market”. Yet here we have companys shovelling it into China ($5/kg)at a hell of alot less than American and European markets. ($8). On page 1 of the same mag,4th August. John McCarthy chair of the meat industry reform group, Meat Industry Excellence, says to many people have staked their careers on the preservation of the status quo. They have to go.
I rang this chap 3 mths ago. told him his group would not achieve the reform out comes desired unless they got rid of a whole lot of chairs, elected reps, and CEO’s from these company’s. And elaborated. Alas at the time I got the short shift and I got off the phone feeling abit deflated. Too much political stuff going on behind the scenes that most people do not realise. Certainly he was horrified at what I had to say, and must have thought I was few quid short of the mark, up top. But blow me down ,he has taken some of it on board ,and here it is .Page 1 Destructive Behaviour, patch protection, and rampant individuality at every level. There will be attrition espeacially among board and senior management. I see Mr Cuff, CEO of Allience is leaving. Just the start?
Back to sediment. Here it is guys. Thinking of Aussie, Bush bush every where. They love their bluegums. Here in the Returuke/Kaitieke ,we have a major erosion problem. No it is not on farmned land but in the Erua conservation park. All kept very hush hush and Regional Council in my day did not want to let councillors near it until public pressure won the day. it is only 11 km off state highway 4 at Erua and whilist very dangerous is well worth a careful look. It is a classic example of how our landscape was formned. What is more it is rich in minerals and rare metal. Recently ,(last year) it stopped eroding ,it had eroded for 2 1/2 yrs virtualy non stop and the Retaruke river ran mud non stop. Some body tried to get the Air Force to try and stop it by bombing the crap out of it until they realised that alas we do not have a Air force with that capability any more. Another wanted to mine the rare minerals. I understand the Minister for Treaty Settlements refferred to large amounts of sediment flowing forth from the river mouth of the Whanganui river into the sea ,and something would be done as a consequence of the Treaty Settlement Process? in the Wanganui Chronical recently .Except he cocked up and implied it was as a consequence of land use up stream. Well my view is that some politicians are just plain horrible. And are more interested, as Mr McCarthy put it above, in destructive behaviour. Well on page 17 NZ farmers Weekly June the 30th , Family left with with huge clean up. Will take years to clean up after being hit by a huge storm. 150 hec’s unfarmable, car sized boulders, and trees’s tossed up, silt up to 10 meters deep. No not a huge slip off farmned hill country ,but out of native bush.
I think back to a newsletter the then Fed Chair of Gisbourn Fed Farmers circulated to members in 2007. Identifying the very same scenario and showed pictures of a happening in his patch. Alas the feds sacked him. Well of couse we had just cleared up the lower reaches of the Whanganui and Manawatu Rangitiki from the 2004 storm . The culprit, Trees. They came down by the million. Blocked culverts took out bridges and destroyed roads, houses,any thing in their path.
On page 24 of the same mag , the letters to editor , one asked why do we continue to support National. What have they done for Agriculture. Are we afraid of the Labour Greens allience, what about Hony and Kim?. My view is that the writor makes a good point. Labour Greens will kill us off over night. Is National is more cunning and doing it in a more measured way over time. Just what has the free market achieved, and is it being used to achieve out comes that are not desirable in a supposedly democratic state. Well you all know what I think about democracy in NZ.
On page 11 of the Dairy News July 22 Enviro Minister Amy Adams pokes it at the Greens. Govt See’s Red. She makes a very good point. The problems with water quality is down stream of urban sewage and waste plants. Ecoli is the nutrient which determines the swimming water standard, and after sewage comes areas of significant indignous vegitation Yep that and town dumps. All that rotting decaying stuff. Page 10, of same, reports on the Govts new recently released National Policy Statement on Fresh Water. Must maintain or improve water quality. and and a N limit of .06 ppm has been imposed. Unless there is no phosphate present .thats how I understand it. Grt. Not going to work for Agriculture. phosphate naturally found in many waters. Natural element. Not something thats applied, to find it’s way into water. So what am I saying . Have I made my point as above. National killing us off in a measured way over time. A slow death of a 1000 cuts.There is a very good editorial from the same mag (Dairy News) pg 22. Welcome to Silly season. The Greens enviro policy is the theme and the editor states quite rightly. The Greens approach is a nonsence. its ideas are becoming more draconian and silly, the party is destroying their credibility, people want comfortable life styles. Its goal of all swimmable rivers is aspirational and sound grt ,but who is going to pay for it. One has visions of funny money be-ing reinvented. Their environmental policy is dictatorial, if by some means they get into power, the primary sector would be thrown into chaos.
Whilist we are on the NPS Fresh Water, the NZ Farmer July 22, page 12/13 has a excelent article on the out comes likely. It says exactly what i have been saying on my blogg site since its inception. Overly excessive rules and rgulation adding cost and destroying wealth. . Headed New Environmental Regs mean big changes. Not only to how we farm but where we farm. There it is. people. Was it last yr or the yr before 2012 Sept/ Oct I reported on Minister Nick Smiths article in the Farmers Weekly. 900,000 hec’s central North Is unsuitable for Farming.
This yr in Feb I reported on Landcare Scientist John Diamonds reported comments in the same Mag in Jananuary of this year. Carbon more profitable than existing land use. All there people. Who are we going to vote for this year.
The scary thing is that July 2011 Local Govt Conference in Wellington, the then Minister for Local Govt Rodney Hide spat the dummy. he said that the financial cap on treaty settlements had been breached. Govt could not afford the added costs likely to settle all outstanding claims and including the add too clauses to already settled claims as a consequence. Local Govt was on the table. That included Co- governance arrangements. it was his view such a sceneario would be bad for Local Govt and as a consequence the planning process and will serve to bring about outcomes sought by claiments that are not appropriate or becoming for a supposedly democratic nation. Please re read my previous bloggs on the Resource Management Act and the Treaty Settlement process including the Treaty of Waitangi.
I must say that the NZ Farmers Weekly has lifted it’s game since the NZ Farmer started. Some very good articles in both. Nothing Like abit of freemarket competition aye. Here in the NZ Farmers Weekly July the 21st page 21 ,Rabo Bank are talking about the new generation Regional Plans. Full cost of rules still to be felt.. On page 23 same mag new Feds Chair William Rolleston . a Doctor, is very excited by the challenge. It appears a metoric rise through the ranks. Talks about the Feds crebility in a positive manner, and how farmers must collaborate. Well it does not look good to me. Another one of the green team who has been shoulder tapped to push the Green theme through the rural economy. Lets think back to the opening paragraphs. Overly restrictive rules adding cost destroying wealth. Grass is our most competitive advantage. Bruce Wills immeadiate past president of the Feds bowed out recently and in doing so stated, yes we did things behind closed doors. Certainly did Bruce and yes I saw it. Rank and file members would dissappear overnight if they new
Closing thought. NZ Herald July 25th. The Bussiness pg 7 .Decline in exports produces $146m deficit for the quarter