The Alliance says promised gains from deregulation of the Dairy industry may be as non-existent as other promised gains in farming from deregulation over the last 13 years.

"The government has always said 'The promised land is always around the corner' when it comes to deregulation but it never is," Alliance Agricultural Spokesperson John Wright said.

"Real problems facing dairy farms are the overvalued exchange rate and interest rates that have been kept high by the Reserve Bank. For the last 13 years our low inflation at all costs policy has really hurt farmers.

"Farmers have also faced the cut back of rural services, the closure of hospitals, increased electricity and telephone prices and the high costs of sending their children through tertiary education.

"These extra costs have been either directly increased by this government or indirectly increased through mismangement, in the case of electricity prices, or inaction in the case of telephones.

"We are the only country in the world to adopt this Spartan, puritanical approach to deregulation in agriculture. We have not gained much as a result," John Wright said.

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