Friday, February 27, 2009

Political correctness gone barking mad as UK supermarket bans use of dogs across Silver Fern Farm works



What the...?

The news today that UK giant supermarket Tescos has ordered a ban on all working dogs in the yards across Silver Fern Farm meat works is nothing more than animal activism gone mad.

Silver Fern Farms communication manager Brent Melville said last week's visit by supermarket officials has reinforced the need to phase out the use of dogs in sheep and lamb yards.

"Accordingly the company has committed itself to removing all dogs from all lamb sites by the commencement of the new season."

Bleeding hearts unite. The good old uninformed UK consumer has spoken yet again. Ignorant of farming practices they have shown yet again how dangerous their uneducated views can be.

A relation of mine told me a frightening story recently about a London boyfriend. This man had lived in London all his life and told her that he had never seen a vegetable in a garden and did not know that carrots grew in dirt. He was not an unintelligent man but it gives some context as to the continuing problems we are facing from that part of the world.

So divorced from reality are these consumers that Tescos have made an unreasonable demand to change a Kiwi way of life because they say it causes 'stress' to the sheep. Apparently humans yelling and rattling lumps of metal as sheep make their way through a yard does not.

Should Silver Fern Farms have accepted this demand or should they have used the international media to forward the Kiwi shepherd's case?

Although Tescos is important to Silver Fern Farms there is also an important principle at stake here, and if we say nothing and then announce the policy change backhandedly as the company have done, we are the losers.

At least give us a chance to fight our case and use this opportunity to prove to these ill-informed Brits that our Kiwi sheepdogs are as iconic as the meat itself.

Absolutely barking.

For more on the story go to http://www.ashburtonguardian.co.nz/

The big three advise Government spending on rural broadband


Common sense prevails - a phrase you wouldn't necessarily attribute to our top three telecommunication companies, following the release of a combined report on the proposed $1.5 billion Government spend-up on improving broadband services.


Public policy advisers Castalia, working for Telecom, Vodafone and Telstra Clear reckon the telecommunication companies long term network investment is sufficient for most New Zealanders' and any Government money might be a waste.

However, for those of you long suffering rural surfers who either a) wait ten minutes to load a web page and give up or b) pay a small fortune on a satellite connection, there is good news.

The report states there is proven value in spending money in rural areas, schools and hospitals where the current market is not delivering, and let's face it, will never deliver.

So while the debate rages about whether the Government should invest in broadband for all, or keep some of the money for other projects, our rural sector can rejoice.

It looks as though, at long last we may be about to see the first technological investment in our communication systems since the days when party lines became push button phones and conversations became private!

Mind boggling French subsidy payments


The poor French arable farmer has received some very bad news indeed this week with the announcement of a $1.6 billion dollar cut to their subsidy payments. The money is being diverted to livestock farmers to pay for upland farming and support for grass-based animal production.

Annually the arable farmers receive a mind boggling $11.5 billion in support, but the $1.6 billion decrease is still expected to cause 'pain' for many.

French agriculture minister Michel Barnier said the changes were essential to making the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) sustainable in the long run.
In light of the current climatic hiccups in Canterbury, and the soggy cereals still to be harvested it's enough to make you hit your head against a brick wall, sell up, buy a Chateau with a 10 acre paddock of wheat and a well stocked wine cellar!

Sighs of relief over PGG results


The refinancing of $475 million debt by PGG Wrightson was a welcome announcement yesterday and one which immediately restored some confidence to the company's previously shaky share price ($0.79 cents at close of market).

But this is just the beginning for Norgate with the ongoing dispute with Silver Fern Farms dampening the way ahead.

Wisely, Norgate was careful not to divulge much more on the compensation issue but did say that the $10 million offer in compensation was not put together lightly. He also mentioned the proposed supply chain and procurement deal put forward would add to the value of the compensation if accepted.

But if Cooper keeps talking tough, and looking for the easy way to bail out Silver Fern Farms debt, Norgate's refinancing plans may mean little, particularly if the current economic climate persists or deteriorates further.

It's up to Cooper now.

Gold mining - keeping the money here


This week I had the opportunity to visit the Oceana gold mining operation at Reefton. It really was quite something to see, particularly as it is in the middle of Victoria Conservation Park. Sometimes it seems that DOC and the RMA can work hand in hand to achieve a strong outcome for the community.

But I couldn't quite shake the feeling as I watched the potential $600 000 worth of gold material being carted off the mine that day, that the New Zealand taxpayer was missing out on the profits from a mineral that belongs to us all.

Oceana's profits go offshore and it seems bizarre to allow that money, when we're talking about the ever failing Government superannuation fund, to disappear.

Yes the company provides some 160 jobs (not all to New Zealanders) in the area and yes it had to put up the substantial money ($50 million) to develop the operation, but surely with a little vision the Government could have looked at a venture like this instead of say spending the cash on overseas attempts at the America's Cup.

It just doesn't seem right...

Monday, February 23, 2009

Farmgirl avoiding the rain


Just a note to let you know that I am away until Thursday...avoiding watching the wheat sprout as the drizzle continues to fall but will try to get online when I can.


PS - This is not where I am going...but it sure looks good right now!

Lamb price news


My thanks to one of our readers who forwarded me these confirmed figures for Silver Fern Farm lamb contracts.

Here's what he said:


"$5.55- $6.22 for 21kg lambs, $5.10-$5.80 for 17kg lambs. $8.50- $10 for 50kg Venison. These are Backbone contracts I think through until 2010...more details Rural News page 4. I'm not sure of the time frames but see lamb is up 5c for next week's schedule."


It will be interesting to see what Alliance comes out with - but generally this is all good news.

Jeanette Fitzsimons departure could signal a dangerous radical change in Green Party politics



All farmers will be shuddering today at the news that Jeanette Fitzsimons is expected to stand down as the Green Party co-leader.


Fitzsimons changed the face of NZ politics in a positive way and allowed the Greens to have a moderate face - enhancing their appeal.


Her legacy is in all of us - particularly in the agricultural sector, where like it or not we have all begun to think about environmental impacts of farm practices and although I hear some of you grumbling about that, I think we owe her some gratitude.


As Jeanette and the Greens have campaigned, the world and consumers have changed. Now, more than ever, our produce has to appear to be safe, sustainable and with a regard for tomorrow's customers. When the Greens first came to power we hadn't even heard of carbon miles - now we are racing to catch up, trying desperately to win the overseas markets, and to convince the public that we, as farmers, are doing everything we can to produce a clean fresh product that will be able to be grown today, tomorrow and the next decade without damaging the land we are caretakers of.


Jeanette brought these issues to the forefront but in a dignified and patient manner. She was not extreme, but a realist in some respects, and had the interests of all New Zealanders in her grasp.


What then is the new face of the Green Party to look like?


Sue Bradford and Metiria Turei are front runners for the position - both of which are enough to put the heebie jeebies into any farmer. Bradford looks to be the favoured prospect but she is a radical (God help us if the Greens get to hold any power in future Governments). Think anti-smacking bill and you get some idea of her agenda.


Unlike Fitzsimons she appears to have little patience and a loose grasp on the reality of business and the economy.

For farmers she is everything in the Green party they are afraid of...and then some.


India free trade negotiations a ray of hope for agriculture


Forget the recession - the Government's announcement of a possible free trade deal with India over the weekend was the best news to hit our livestock industry in 18 months.

India has a growing middle class, with money in pockets, and this bodes well for our lamb markets.

Okay, so negotiations are expected to take a number of years but it all looks hopeful and in these current conditions the fact that we are opening talks with the world's second largest nation is a huge coup for the Government.

Currently we export very little agricultural products as there are high tariffs on sheep meat. Even so we export $360 million each year, and import $284 million in return. Coke, coal, logs and wool are our main exports into the country.

Think then what free access to India's growing rich could mean and as Federated Farmers president Don Nicolson commented, "sheep meat is widely consumed and unaffected by religious dietary requirements where meat is consumed."

Might be time to buy in that breeding stock again and celebrate the positivity of this move.

Here's to free trade and lamb curries!

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Will Cooper's witchhunt be in the best interests of NZ agriculture?




The Press said it all yesterday with a bold headline proclaiming PGG Wrightson's capital value had halved in just one week as the company's market capitalisation was slashed to $175 million on Friday.
Hindin Greene partner Grant Williamson, of Hamilton, said that investors had lost confidence in the company particularly after the Silver Fern Farms debacle.
Now, as reported on this blog earlier this week, Keith Cooper - CEO of SFF, is determined to go after Norgate for a figure widely rumoured to be around the $140 million mark.
There is no two ways about this, PGG Wrightson is in trouble. It has high debt levels and a big investor (Pyne Gould Corporation with a 21.5% percent share) wanting out. As Williamson suggests in the article, getting new debt is near impossible in the current economic environment.
So, is Keith Cooper's stance in the interests of New Zealand agriculture at this time, and indeed his own shareholders? Many of those shareholders will be PGG clients and none of them will want to see the company go belly up.
PGG Wrightson is an important company and Cooper's desperation to save Silver Fern's and his own bacon could see it pushed to the brink.
Norgate was stupid to go unconditional on the deal with Silver Ferns without funding but is it even stupider to sink his ship when so many farmers could be hurt by those actions? Couldn't a softly softly approach and a little more patience serve both companies interests?
It's a tricky question, and one I suspect Cooper and his men won't give any consideration to.
It would be interesting to hear your views on this...

Friday, February 20, 2009

Good news for grain farmers


Some good news this week coming out of the United Kingdom for our arable farmers with a top trader indicating that prices could return to 2007 levels.

Dr Klaus Schumacker of Toepfer International told British farmers that cereal stocks were still historically low at just 19% of estimated usage.

Dr Schumacker said stocks need to increase, but that isn't likely in the UK with yields expected to be well down following a decision by many to decrease inputs, because of economic difficulties. Weather problems have also added to the shortage.

Dr Schumacker also stressed the growing link between oil and grain prices, citing the amount of corn that is being used in the States as bioethanol.

Despite traders pulling out of the wheat futures market last year and the decrease in planting that caused it seems world demand for wheat remains and that is great news for our New Zealand farmers.

Farm prices immune to recession?




Federated Farmers Meat and Fibre chairman Bruce Wills has publicly stated he thinks farm prices could tumble by up to 30 % - a statement I'm not so sure is correct for some parts of the country.


Last year in Mid Canterbury farm values reached a record high when an irrigated farm was sold to process vegetable growers for $20 000 an acre. Prior to that farms in the area had been hovering between the $16 ooo to $18 000 mark.


Since then it has been hard to get a handle on values as farm sales in the area have come to a virtual halt. However, the law of supply and demand still stands and sectors such as the process vegetable community have held up in current economic conditions and although the dairying pay-out has decreased from $7.90 to $5.10 a kilogram the fundamentals are much the same.


Recession talk breeds more recession but in the case of some sectors of the farming community it is pretty much business as usual, and if you are a corporate farmer the ability to spread your risk can outweigh the current negative talk.


If you add to that the welcome drop in interest rates you could probably succeed in arguing that now is a good time to buy land, if it comes available - and I'm sure many of these farmers will take that opportunity should it come, hence the market may sustain its high.


Areas such as Northland may be vastly different of course but Canterbury and Southland (which is already showing signs of bucking the trend) are well placed to survive the recession panic.


Farmers are right to hold on to their land at present, it only adds to the competition when it does come available, and in these areas they should not succumb to the depressed spin coming out of the media.


Supply and demand - a fundamental that doesn't change.




Thursday, February 19, 2009

PGG in major financial trouble?


Business commentator David Hargreaves has written a damming article on PGG over the 50 percent bid for Silver Fern Farms when the company didn't have the finance to back it, and the subsequent financial problems the company has found itself in.


David finishes by stating that Craig Norgate may be getting 'that call' from John Key soon.

The writing, as they say, might be on the wall...

Read the full article here: http://www.stuff.co.nz/4851777a1865.html

Source tells Farmgirl of $120 lamb contract


UNCONFIRMED REPORT:
Good news for lamb farmers today with a source telling Farmgirl that he has a Silver Fern Farms farmer contract for $6 a kilogram. This would suggest that the Federated Farmers figure of $150 a lamb may not be that unrealistic after all.
If you have had a similar contract or can confirm these figures or give us a heads up on Alliance winter contracts please let us know!

Keith Cooper hints at $200 million compensation from PGG


Craig Norgate can consider himself well and truly spanked and sent to the little boys' corner following the rejection of a pithy $10 million compensation offer for the failed partnership deal with Silver Fern Farms.
On the Farming Show yesterday, Silver Fern Farms CEO Keith Cooper hinted that up to $200 million might be more in the ballpark. Of course they won't get anything like that but some commentators believe PGG could be forced to pay well over $100 million.
Cooper said the value of the transaction had been clearly articulated at around $200 million and this was now lost.
"It can't be substituted with a new deal so we have got to come to a consensus as to what those damages are and quite simply they are vastly different to the $10 million dollar offer by PGG."
Norgate is finding out the hard way that Keith Cooper is not a man to be messed with. In a scathing attack on how PGG has conducted itself through the negotiations he said it was 'a little unusual for one of the parties to take negotiations into the media, particularly as they are a publicly listed company with other disclosure requirements.'
Ouch...you could feel the blow landing on Norgate's chin as Cooper's stance caused an immediate decrease in the value of PGG shares and his broad hints at how much the settlement may cost the company will only continue this downward trend.
Norgate is learning fast that playing chicken with the big boys isn't so much fun after all.

To listen to the full fascinating interview with Keith Cooper go to: http://www.farmingshow.com/

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Government in need of straitjacket if it tries to save ailing business





He's kidding right?


John Key's suggestion of a Government cheque went down about as well as the sale of Fisher and Paykel fridges yesterday.


This is not America. You can't compare the 1600 jobs Fisher and Paykel might dump (and eventually will anyway as more and more product gets made offshore) with the 3 to 4 million jobs Obama hopes to save or create, plus we don't have the coffers to stump up when businesses go bad.

More likely the Government will help by easing foreign investment rules to enable Fisher and Paykel to gain an investor, but even if that happens the company should be locked down to keeping what is left of its production base here.

It would be bold and somewhat cheeky for a company that has moved a lot of its business offshore in recent years to take any sort of help from Government, particularly when other New Zealand businesses have gone or are disappearing in the same way and will not be extended the same comfort.

Key's words may have been just that - a ploy to buoy the share value. Let's hope that's all he intends to do.

A humiliating experience for Northern Ireland farmers


A relative alerted me to this rather sad story of these Northern Ireland farmers queuing up for a 'first come, first served' 5000 pound EU modernisation grant this week.
The grants are designed to improve animal welfare and and farm efficiency but there is not enough to go around with only 1200 farmers receiving the grants.
Those that could not queue, cap in hand, missed out, although some postal applications were allowed.
Having lived in Northern Ireland for several months in 2007 I witnessed first hand the state of the farming industry. Dairy farms were small and uneconomical and these grants serve as a lifeline to many - but one has to ask how far that lifeline should be extended.
Farmers that were in the queue told the BBC that they would use the grants to buy ridiculous items such as cow mattresses and robotic floor cleaners. How these items are going to make farms more profitable is debatable.
The problem in Northern Ireland is that land is very expensive and farmers cannot afford to expand. Therefore they are stuck with these small uneconomical landholdings, and welfare handouts from the EU.
The Irish public has some sympathy for farmers but in these hard times that sympathy may turn to anger.
Any way you look at it, the process of queuing for money must have been a humiliating experience.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Farmgirl on farming show



Yesterday I had the pleasure of talking to Jamie Mackay, host of the Farming Show, a radio show that broadcasts nation-wide between 12 and 1pm each weekday.

You can listen to the interview on www.farmingshow.com

I will be on again on March 4th and every fortnight following that, so tune in - it's a great show!

Isolation not always a curse

Carbon miles, the distance to overseas markets and endless quota restrictions in these protectionist times can leave the New Zealand farmer frustrated at our relative isolation to the world's markets, but in some ways it can be a blessing.
The dying British farmer is facing a David and Goliath battle with the big supermarkets to survive and so far the supermarkets are winning.
Recession and aggressive competition have forced supermarket chains like Tesco's and Sainsbury's to slash the price of fruit and vegetables to meet, they say, 'consumer demand'.
Farmers have been reporting severe bullying tactics with one close to selling up after Tesco's dropped the spud price by NZ $138 per tonne overnight. Most farmers report being paid 50% less than the previous season for their vegetables and most agree it can't continue.
And of course with Europe on their doorstep the supermarkets can take produce from elsewhere at the cost of the British farmer.
The situation is dire, and the consequences may be equally as dire for those of us competing from this side of the world. The reaction, of course, is to protect these farmers and this is where protectionism becomes a major threat once more. As consumers' back pockets dry up food prices fall and despite Gordon Brown's free trade philosophy, the pressure from another suffering sector of the economy may force the Government to help out.
The over-riding problem is the lack of loyalty from British consumers and slick campaigns by the likes of Jamie Oliver and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall to get people enthusiastic about quality grown home produce may take years before any quantifiable results occur.
The idea is right though - positioning the UK farmers away from commodity products where they can't compete against aggressive European farmers, into quality driven produce may serve them well in years to come. Either that or they die.
But teaching the consumer the value of a head of British broccoli, or the health benefits of eating a free range chicken may take some time when we live in a society that doesn't value its food, and wastes disgracefully in a way previous generations would have shuddered at.
And just because we are isolated it doesn't mean our own domestic market is immune. We also need to be educating on the quality of our food. However, unlike British supermarkets, our own are quite adept at keeping the price up.

Monday, February 16, 2009

Young Farmer Contest winner dies in tragic accident




A sad note to start the week with the news that the 1993 Young Farmer Contest winner Peter Barry passed away following a stockcar accident last week.


Peter was an excellent farmer and a high achiever in agriculture and all of our farming community have lost someone special upon the news of his death.


Our thoughts are with his family.

Ravensdown and a whole can of whooey

The latest PR offering from Ravensdown on its palm kernel business was nothing more than a slippery backslide designed to do nothing more than calm the angry hordes of arable farmers who make up a substantial percentage of Ravensdown's fertiliser profits.

Talk about biting the hand that feeds you. First they try to make a buck at the expense of cropping farmers by importing palm kernel to dairy farmers, when those very same farmers might have purchased wheat from their New Zealand neighbours, and now they have fobbed the protests aside by claiming that they are the arable industry's saviour, charging in on a white horse.

Their PR doctors should be given a pay rise (the palm kernel profits could be the trick) for their claim that by adding a small amount of grain to PKE this season they have created a 'new' domestic grain market for farmers.

Very few wheat farmers sell their grain for the purpose of Ravensdown's diffusive business plans and two major points have been missed in the process.

Ravensdown is a farmer's co-operative - not a dairy farmer co-operative, not a sheep farmer or arable farmer co-operative, but a united farmer's co-operative and as such any move by the directors to go into a business which seriously disadvantages one group of farmers like the palm kernel imports does should be vetoed.

These board sitters should be sacked if they can't even stick to the core principles of a co-operative and arable farmers should vote with their feet and buy from the opposition until such time as Ravensdown sees fit to even up the playing field again.

Imagine the outrage from dairy farmers if Ravensdown went into importing milk powder to those beef farmers breeding bobby calves. It is the same thing.

They are a fertiliser co-operative and these decisions serve to drive a wedge right through their community of shareholders. Many were unhappy about the decision to stray from their core business of fertiliser when they decided to go into agri-chemicals and many more may be unhappy if this foray into palm kernel imports proves marginal on the bank sheet as some suspect it might.

If Ballance were smart they would move in for the kill. There has never been a more opportune time.

Saturday, February 14, 2009

More Tomfoolery...why farmers should never be let near town





Just what you don't want to happen when you're driving through an area of parked cars! This John Deere 6930 in East Sussex didn't so much prang a parked car as completely obliterate it when the rolls decided to unfold on their own...



Fortunately, there was no one inside the car when the rolls dropped onto its roof, but by the time the tractor driver stopped the Toyota had been dragged 20 yards down the road and had rolled onto its side.


Check out the Farmers Weekly Interactive UK website for more hilarious mishaps at http://www.fwi.co.uk/Articles/Search.aspx?Topics=1842&NavigationID=291

A little Valentine tomfoolery...




The ox 'Heart', having a heart-shaped marking on his forehead, relaxes at Yamakun Farm on February 12, 2009 in Yokohama, Japan. Born in the year of the ox and ahead of Valentine's Day, the ox has drawn attention from around the country.





Here's some advice for you farmer boys out there on how to woo your filly on Valentines day, or as may-be the case, how to keep your filly happy.


1 Taking your lovely lady out to the canola paddock, then proclaiming "Look sweetheart, I drilled you an entire paddock of flowers," wears a bit thin after a few years.

2 Suggesting you have a slap-up romantic meal at home is all very fine, until you come in from the farm and sit at the table waiting for the above-mentioned meal...knife and fork in hand.

3 The cardinal rule for gift buying is to buy only one of three things for your lady, jewellery, perfume or flowers...do not stray from this course...lingerie with more holes than cloth that is three sizes too small is not a gift for her.

4 If you are going to make the great romantic gesture I suggest a picnic in a paddock, McLeod's Daughters style but remember, attention to food is all important. A bag of salt and vinegar potato chips and a beer is not really romantic fare. Go for your back pocket, drag out the dusty notes and buy a quality bottle of bubbles, soft cheese (cheese slices are not acceptable), antipasto and if you're lost by this stage, ask your mother for some help. Also, remember to move any obstructions prior to entering the paddock - a bull may impede your progress somewhat.

5 And lastly, be sure to compliment her during the day, repetitively, but check what you say within yourself first. "You look like you've lost weight," suggests that she was fatter at some stage, or "If you were a ewe you'd have all the rams chasing you," might very well be true but not entirely appropriate. Try to channel the Mark Darcy in you - in other words, don't say too much, but make sure what you do say is well thought out.

Free trade a fantasy



It's a lovely ideal - one of those grand old stories you tell your grandchildren about in front of the fire, when you sit them down and tell them about the time when we came close to having a free trade deal with America and other nations - when our lamb meat came so close to going into European countries without having costs added on to keep us out.

Aaaah yes...didn't we come so close? Or were we kidding ourselves - high on a fantasy, climbing a peak that crumbles from under our feet and sends us toppling off balance as soon as the first puff of wind comes along?

The recession has world leaders scrambling to protect their constituents in any way they can, hence the resurgence of protectionism. No Government is going to let its people suffer and jeopardise future elections by promising to let more trade in at this critical time.

Time magazine said world leaders have divided loyalties.

"On the one hand they know that international co-ordination is vital if the global economy is to be gotten back on track. On the other hand, they are politically responsible to their domestic constituencies, not international ones. And in tough times, those constituencies do not like their politicians appearing to favour foreigners."

Worryingly, British PM and avid free trade supporter Gordon Brown told the World Economic Forum that financial protectionism was a far more significant problem than trade protectionism at this time - think of all the American money being poured into projects at home with none going out the door to keep the global economy going. It's like an impenetrable fence where no money, and no products can be passed in. They exist by themselves, within themselves and for an isolated country like New Zealand that depends, no survives on outside money that is a serious problem if it spreads, which could make our recession far more painful and ultimately longer than these other countries.

So who is right - us or them?

If you're an American I'm betting you're applauding the decision to shut up shop and move the money domestically rather than globally- and understandably so - but if you are a farmer here in New Zealand it is a far different feeling.

Unfortunately free trade is only ever going to be an ideal we sometimes get a little closer too, but an ideal that falls away as quickly as those scurrilous Wall Street bankers when an economic recession hits.

It is after all in people's natures to protect their own.

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Global recession or global correction?




The global recession is just a way of purging the excess of greed that builds in every generation yet to witness the consequences of such a course.


Each world recession (think the 1980s) has a common denominator, whether it be from bankers eager to make a buck from clients who are just as eager to make a buck from expanding their business - greed marks us all.


Here's a fascinating exercise. If you ever get the chance, take a look at a property programme like Location, Location (A UK programme currently screening on TV1, focusing around a couple looking to sell up in the city and move elsewhere). Recently, by chance, I viewed a 2001 edition of the show, when a young couple thought spending $120 000 pounds ($328 000 NZ) on a house was a tooth pulling exercise. This season I was completely astounded by the fresh faced Londoners, barely out of nappies, demanding their first house, to be quite blunt, be one hell of a mansion with no work required of it. The price for their young dreams appeared unfixed - most couples ending up spending $500 000 plus Great British pounds ($1.37 million NZ). Couples without children required four to five bedrooms, four bathrooms and a country farm estate they could kick around on in their wellies during bank holidays. This may be far off telly-land but it does serve a purpose in explaining how we got where we are today.


"Those that cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." - George Santayana


Every generation must face a boom and bust process. It's how we learn and no amount of postulating or educating will stop it happening again. The young corporates and IT rich referred to in programmes like Location, Location have never experienced the consequences of prolonged credit and therefore borrowed and spent at an outrageous level. But we needn't blame them entirely. We live in a society that is all about borrowing. From when we leave high school and enter tertiary education, debt becomes our friend, our shadow and we live with it as easily as living with the designer bunion on our big toe. To get ahead we are told to borrow, to educate ourselves via student loans and then it is all the hammering of piggy banks from there.


It is no surprise that the student loan generation is by far the most debt ridden of any that have come before it. It is a generation bought up on the mantra of 'now' - a greed exacerbated by Governments who allow youth to think they can have it all by borrowing from at first the taxpayer and then from the banks.


How many times over the past few years have farmers been told at countless seminars that debt was not their enemy, it was indeed their friend, and a great tool to further success? This message has pervaded every layer of society and the condemnation now of excess spending by so many Governments around the world is rich considering they allowed it to happen while it was good for the treasury coffers, and indeed encouraged our youngest contributors in society to borrow and borrow again.


To shout 'whoa' at the World Economic Forum, when the carpet had already been hacked away is hypocritical and to pretend that this is and will be a one off event only relative to this generation is a falsehood designed to deny their own culpability.


Recession? No.


Correction?...we'll wait and see.


Wednesday, February 11, 2009

A Fairyland Dream?

Finance minister Bill English said on taking office he had discovered a series of "unfunded projects and fairyland dreams." (Stuff)

So the economic stimulus plan to save us all has been launched. Cunningly the Government have been quick to point out that the $500 million of taxpayer money will be spread on infrastructure projects across a wide range of regions, which is code for 'you farmers will have to wait and be happy that a roading worker might upgrade a highway in the nearest city'.

And then of course there was the tiniest sardine dangled on a line. A small infrastructure unit will be set up and will probably need another $100 million of taxpayer money to fund it - this from a Government I seem to recall promising to put a halt to spending on the public service.

But here's the real bait - the 'fairyland dream' Bill English is really referring too. The unit, supposedly will be putting forth a number of long term projects with another $5-6 billion available to it over the next four years.

In political speech jargon all this means is that the Government is sweet talking and hedging its bets. Water storage is likely to become one of those 'unfunded projects' English spouts off about, miraculously brought out of the cupboard at election time when National decides it needs the rural vote.

Playing politics for the next election is a dangerous game. A few schools, 69 new state houses (of which most will be in Auckland) and a handful of roading projects is hardly going to save the economy. To do that, Bill would have to stop playing at putting away the cash to buy votes in three years time.

Seems the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree when it comes to the previous Government and this one.

What they have agreed to do:

$216 million on education, $124 million on housing (let's hope they get a few cockroach exterminators for their buck in Auckland) and $142 million on that old chestnut - roading.


Tuesday, February 10, 2009

The English Connection




The old adage that 'farmers do well under a National led government' has not always been true.
However, this could turnaround in light of the English connection.
Bill English, of course, is of pure Southland farming stock - Dipton in fact, but ironically it's his brother that may well shake the National party up and hold them to their rural values.
Federated Farmers CEO Conor English is a feisty agricultural advocate and is already making a significant impact, not only on the lobby group itself, but on national issues affecting all New Zealanders (Aucklanders).
It was distinctly refreshing to see the man in action recently, stomping his feet about the $1.9 billion 5km motorway proposed for Auckland. Fair go, he said, how about thinking about water storage for the agricultural industry and the jobs that might create. (Okay, so I paraphrase a little).
He certainly got up John Bank's nose (an impressive feat considering the size) and you could hear the whooping through-out the rural hinterland as farmers rejoiced at having someone 'take it to em city-ites once more'.
Farmers have had to endure possibly the worst year of criticism from urban-ites in New Zealand's history. The contempt for agriculture by those ignorant to how the industry operates and what it means for the economy has been palpable and dangerously contagious.
Here then is a way of gaining some ground at what best can be described as a 'difficult economic time'. Creating jobs and furthering agriculture is a win-win situation.
And herein lies the fascinating fight. Bill English happens to be the Infrastructure minister and Conor is the farmer's friend. Will Bill concede this one and finally put water storage high on the Government priority list.
The power each of them holds may yet deliver National as the Government that farmers 'do well' by - and if that is the case, you can thank those English genes.

'Awesum Johnnie'


With a little 'Keewi engineeoity', as the lad himself likes to drawl, Prime Minister John Key has catapulted from biking past houses with 'kids more fortunate' than him to the kind of capitalist wealth and power Wall Street bankers salivate over in their dreams.
Lucky then there is no Obama here to whip the rich boys into shape. Oh to be the proverbial fly on the wall for their future meetings.
Obama: " This gift is simply not acceptable John. You must be held accountable."
Key: "I know Barack but hey look, I only bought you Fiji as a gift from the New Zealand taxpayer. It's cheap as chips mate. I could have really gone to market and bought you Australia instead."

Who can forget the election night speech...such hallowed words,
invigorating, uplifting. "We did it," and the toothy grin reminiscent of
a night of mischief in a prep school dormitory with Bill English.


One wonders whatever happened to those kids he used to look longingly at as he
cycled past. Still, he got his own back didn't he, because right now those 'kids' are likely to lose their jobs, be bogged down in debt while forced to look at
their esteemed leader, smiling, like a thousand Cheshire cats following the Pied Piper and his merry rats, night after night on the television and wondering where it all went wrong. 'Up ya...ya middle class morons,' would have been a more acceptable description of Key's election night pre-pubescent elation.

So Christmas rolled around, as did the financial meltdown and Obama told his people that "this was America's time to put people back to work and to restore prosperity". New Zealanders' held their breath, anxiously waiting for our own leader's inspiring rhetoric that would make us bound out of bed with endless optimism, and say YES WE CAN! to every banker refusing to drop interest rates.
And so the Sainsbury teddy bear put up his best Christmas sparklers, and invited one and all to drinkypoos. Helen beside John. John scratching, itching, desperately resisting the urge to say 'nah nah nahnah nah' and then the piece de resistance.
Sainsbury (something like this anyway): "So John, do you have a message for the New Zealand people for the New Year."
(Cue the "Yes we cans, the timeless creeds, the eternal spirit of our nation speech.)
Key: "Weeeeelll I hopes ya all have a good holiday cos I'm bloody going to. See ya next year sumtimes."

All he needed was a pair of cowboy boots and a penchant for talking about 'them guys' and he could have passed for George Bush's illegitimate twin brother. And if all of that was making you uncomfortable in light of the ease and pace with which America's new leader was delivering his vision, add in a podium tumble and a humiliating tussle at Waitangi and Key began to resemble
more of a blethering baboon than a leader of the South Pacific.


What has made the entire saga that much more bizarre is watching a statesman like Labour leader emerging from the long shadows of the Helen era, one that seems to possess that rare quality seen in politics - dignity.
When Key is alone, (when Bill isn't pulling those tight strings from beside the press gallery Prime Minister podium), amusingly, the media look more and more to Phil Goff to provide them with a leader like summary of the event at hand, and it is becoming harder and harder to establish who really is the PM.
Take Waitangi for instance. Sure it was a debacle but it wasn't the shoving that made it so - it was Key gaffing when trying to explain the significance of Waitangi. You got the impression that the guy didn't really mean what he said, or know what he was supposed to say.
So unimpressive was his speech that One News cut to Goff who gave them exactly what they wanted to hear.
And why is this important?
Because in the current climate, as past history has shown us, the ability to look as though you are in control, to inspire, to aspire is crucial. In this respect Key is failing and allowing Bill English to look more and more like the 'mean ole' puppet master.
And even if Key has a serious lack of ability in his position it can be masked, as Churchill showed during World War Two. Churchill the man was not a visionary, nor a masterful politician. He was a shrewd orator able to manipulate his people to great heights. Even if Obama does nothing more than talk for the next four years it will at least lift his people, and help them to help themselves - a sentiment our Prime Minister desperately needs to learn.