Sheep roam the fields of New Zealand Photo: Rat0007/iStockphoto
Farmers, outraged by New Zealand's environmental policies, have united around right-wing parties, promising to fold them if they come to power in this weekend's election.
Some rural voters backed Jacinda Ardern in 2020, and the Labor Party, now led by Chris Hipkins, has introduced policies including planting pine forests on grassland. land and require farmers to pay a fee for the methane emitted by their livestock.
But farmers are now among the most vocal critics of Labour's rule and are almost unanimous in their desire to topple the party.
They are not alone in their desire for change. Opinion polls and experts indicate a coalition will be formed between the centre-right National Libertarian ACT and the populist New Zealand First parties. National is currently ahead of the Labor Party in the polls, but does not have enough support to govern the country alone.
When The Telegraph asked six farmers in the South Island market town of Geraldine what they thought of the current government's chances, four used the phrase: «We've got to get rid of them.» Others used stronger language to express the same opinion.
Green policies aimed at improving New Zealand's natural environment and reducing carbon emissions have made farming more difficult and expensive, sapping morale in an industry once celebrated as the backbone of the country's export economy.
It still is very important to the economy — farmers accuse Wellington of failing to appreciate it. Dairy exports alone cost more than twice as much as New Zealand's tourism industry — on par with red meat supplies.
Andrew Hoggard is a dairy farmer from the Manawatu region of the North Island whose dissatisfaction with government recently propelled him into the political arena.
He has announced he will run for office. MP for the ACT, which «defends rural rights». New Zealand» as his campaign principle when his term as president of Federated Farmers, a leading advocacy group, ended earlier this year.
«I think if the country was going in the right direction and everything was bloody great, I could just say, 'Honey, I'm going back to the farm,'» Hoggard said.
One of the first acts of the Labor government of Mr. Ms Ardern, during her second term, introduced a draconian set of rules designed to protect New Zealand's waterways from agricultural run-off.
“[The policy was] just completely unworkable. and caused a hell of a lot of anxiety before the government finally realized what it had done,” Mr Hoggard said.
Some of the more radical new rules were scrapped, including one requiring hoof prints never sunk deeper than 8 inches in paddocks, and another setting fixed planting times for crops — regardless of weather.
But what remains is the situation. Mr Hoggard said «we are still in a state of paralysis.»
National and ACT have pledged to remove much of the red tape that currently stifles farmers.
Labour says New Zealand's agriculture sector needs to get ahead of the sustainability curve to be competitive in an increasingly important global market given by origin.
«I believe it is important for New Zealand farmers to improve and develop in ways that benefit the environment, but costly regulation and taxation are not the way to achieve this,» Mr Hoggard said.
Farmers are particularly unhappy with the so-called “fart tax”; about animal husbandry Author: WILLIAM WEST/AFP
A major regulatory issue is Labour's so-called «fart tax». The world-first scheme, due to start in 2025, will tax methane emissions from livestock, which make up about a quarter of New Zealand's greenhouse gases.
Farmers have called the scheme unduly punitive, noting that New Zealand produces only a small proportion of global emissions — 0.09 percent, the same as Ireland.
They also point to research that shows milk and red meat production in New Zealand already emits fewer greenhouse gases per unit of output than most other agricultural operations. -exporters, and that the levy would increase costs for farmers, making them less competitive in the global market.
Notably, National and ACT have not ruled out introducing their own fart tax. National said it would delay introducing such legislation until 2030, but would also end New Zealand's long-standing ban on genetic editing, which research shows can significantly reduce the amount of methane emitted by cattle.
«If farmers in our biggest trading partners don't pay for their methane emissions, New Zealand farmers shouldn't either,» party leader David Seymour said earlier this year.
The ACT small government's stance has caught the attention of a farmer Sheep and beef farmer James Patterson farms in the South Island highlands near Queenstown.
«Labour is pathetic and National wouldn't be much better — they're too busy trying to be everything to everyone,» he told the Telegraph. He described ACT's policies as «the least tenuous.»
Patterson believes farmers are the best stewards of the land because their relationship with it is symbiotic. This was evident, he said, when comparing state-managed farmland in the highlands, which are covered in noxious weeds such as juniper, bristlecone and wild pines.
In contrast, in the highlands, tended and grazed by farmers, Merino sheep—a breed that is ideal for this rugged terrain and prized for producing the best wool in the world—are typically in better shape.
In Last year, the Labor Party passed legislation placing severe restrictions on how farmers farm their farms. this land.
«The end of highland farming»
Local media dubbed this move «the end of highland agriculture.» Both National and ACT have vowed to repeal the law if they form the next government.
Dana Rowe, a 25-year-old dairy farmer who manages her parents' property in the Bay of Plenty, described the uncertainty surrounding the industry.
“My grandfather was a dairy farmer, my parents are dairy farmers, and I there is a wonderful opportunity to become one of them and it should be very exciting,” she told the Telegraph. “But it's very scary. You kind of have these conversations: “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket for a secure future.”
Ms Rowe acknowledged New Zealand agriculture could be more environmentally friendly — «just like literally every industry». But he said he felt farmers were being unfairly targeted by the current government.
“I think anyone who says farmers don't care about the environment is crazy. This is our bread and butter. If we have land, we can't do our jobs properly, right? We love our animals and the environment.”
Ms Rowe believes the National-ACT coalition will be a good outcome for her industry when the country goes to the polls on Saturday.
Mr Hoggard said it would benefit New Zealand, which entered its first recession in a decade in June.
«Agriculture is a very important part of our economy,» he said. «But farmers need to have the confidence to continue farming, to continue investing in the land — and that's something they're really hesitant about right now.»
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