There has been a positive response from New Zealanders to the Beef + Lamb New Zealand/50 Shades of Green Kiwis Backing Farmers campaign, which is raising awareness of the overwhelming wave of Government environmental policies.
More than 7,100 people have visited the website to get a better understanding of the issues facing the sector and there has been great engagement on social media.
There has been strong interest in the campaign from media and many of our partners such as Federated Farmers, meat processors, the Meat Industry Association, Deer Industry New Zealand and Irrigation New Zealand have been sharing Kiwis Backing Farmers far and wide.
The campaign has also supported our conversations with politicians in the run-up to the General Election.
Highlighting the carbon farming problem has clearly sparked a lot of interest and helped raise awareness about the other serious issues including the low slope map and emissions pricing.
But we still need your help getting the message through.
We encourage you to share the website with your staff, family and friends and make your voice heard by sending an email to the Government.
Like many farmers, we are frustrated with the scale, impact and relentless pace of the Government reforms.
Having the right policies in place is now more important than ever.
We are asking for a pause on new rules like the Biodiversity National Policy Statement and RMA reform and for the Government to work with the agricultural sector on existing rules that urgently need fixed.
We have highlighted five key areas where we think change is needed:
- Carbon farming
- Biodiversity
- Agricultural emissions
- Freshwater
- Resource Management Act reform
Have your say today!