| 37 Looking forward to seeing further positivity Scott has been Beef + Lamb New Zealand’s Western North Island elected Director, since 2019. Sue Russell RURAL PEOPLE » Scott Gower In a third conversation in as many years with Scott Gower, from High Glades sheep and beef station near Ohura, the conversation continues on those farming challenges and opportunities farmers continue to experience and manage. The quietly spoken farmer who operates a hill country operation in Ohura, in the King Country with wife Robyn, acknowledges he’s looking forward to seeing further positivity in the sector following the election of a new Government. Asked in what ways he sees this positive shift, Scott turns first to the issues of environmental compliances, where a loosening in prescribed regulations has been felt. “I would say there’s a general feeling of more optimism and a necessary rebalancing from the compliance regime we’ve had to work with through the previous government’s policy and directions.” To put it bluntly, Scott describes some of the regulatory stuff as unworkable, with a broad brush approach that doesn’t take into account an individual farm’s environmental situation. Having to contend with this, deal with rising farm costs and a widening in understanding and valuing by society of what farmers achieve for this country day in day out, has, to say the least, been difficult. “I shudder to think if we hadn’t had a change just what the plight of farmers would be. We already have a much higher suicide rate than across the general population. Farming is by nature an isolating activity, so organisations such as Beef + Lamb and other groups who speak for their membership are incredibly important.” This shift for the farmer away from beauraucracy and policy heavy-handidness is best described in a quote Scott heard Todd McLay say: “It’s taking the ‘Wellington’ out of farming’. Scott is a committed advocate for farmer owned co-operatives and industry lead organisations and to demonstrate this, he’s been Beef + Lamb New Zealand’s Western North Island elected Director, since 2019. He chairs the B + Lamb NZ People & Culture Committee. He is also on the OSPIR stakeholder Council, as the B + Lamb NZ representative. “We can thankfully now focus on the farm extension stuff; making the boat go faster instead of looking at how to mitigate and react to policy. It’s been a very positive thing to experience and be part of.” Product prices still present as challenging at a time when on-farm costs don’t appear to be slowing down. In fact, farm inflation has run, over the last three years at 32%, much higher than any other sector has experienced. “A lot of that cost bulge is just farm inputs and interest rates. When a bank shifts its interest percentage even a quarter percent, this can be hundreds of thousands of dollars for farmers to somehow find while the market return for their products is shrinking.” Another problem, and a big one Scott says, is local government and the costs they pass on to the farming sector. “I do wish that district and regional councils would have to operate in a much more rigorous way when it comes to what they are funding because these projects are met by the rate-payer and in the case of a farm, the rates are formidible. We need to deregulate our local governments. A lot of the costs they are imposing on us is because of regulation the previous government imposed on them. Farmers, he says, are optomistic by nature, used to dealing with all sorts of impacts beyond their control. “We are generally feeling like the next few years ahead will be a better experience for us, and that matters to this country. With a new government Scott says there is some light at the end of the tunnel. Proudly supporting Scott Gower
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDc2Mzg=