FFNZ And Meat NZ Animal Welfare Initiative

Joint Press Release - Federated Farmers & Meat New Zealand 17 August 2001

Federated Farmers President Alistair Polson and Meat New Zealand Chairman Jeff Grant have announced a joint initiative to address serious animal welfare issues on farm largely caused by adverse climatic conditions.

FFNZ, Meat NZ and MAF will work together to provide a support network for farmers that are not coping with feed shortages. The details of the programme are still to be finalised but it is likely to include advice in emergency situations on feed budgeting, accessing feed and managing stock.

In a joint statement Mr Polson and Mr Grant said "Recent events have highlighted the need to let farmers know where they can go if they are not coping. By providing a more visible support network we will hopefully prevent the type of situations that we have seen in recent weeks."

"This winter has been one of the worst on record in some regions, with some farmers going into winter with inadequate feed supplies. The proposed programme is aimed at stopping situations developing that end in prosecution and should these situations do develop we have a framework in place to deal with them efficiently."

Assistance will be based on strictly targeted criteria and aims to provide practical and proactive assistance for farmers under extreme pressure.

ENDS

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