Bridging the divide
According to a recent survey, an urban/rural divide does not exist because urban people value farming for creating jobs, protecting the environment and providing food. As for jobs, the farm employment circus has not come to town and it’s just as well farmers protect the rural environment because urban people seem to have trouble protecting theirs. Food was their primary focus, but appreciating something does not mean understanding it. Food costs are a good example with household living costs up 7.4% in the 12 months to last September. Do they understand farm costs producing their food have increased by more than double that? Do they understand that 90% of the food farmers produce is exported to get those market prices, not the added costs to create it? Do they understand that planting trees, and farmers have a lot of forests, now has a $30.25 per ha cost for sequestering carbon to protect their environment? Appreciation does not equal trust and knowledge; now is the time for farming to work on that. It needs more than ex-farmer MPs who now have political aspirations and responsibilities. It also needs more than the limited and often ignorant agricultural policy advice available to them from various government departments that influence farming. The survey showed media was blamed for the urban lack of knowledge. Add understanding, like commentators continually parroting that farmers don’t pay for emissions, when not only do they pay like everyone else, their emissions are different. They cannot add on costs like urban businesses. No other country requires NZ to tax emissions — just reduce warming, that is happening. It is up to Federated Farmers to turn their communications focus on this urban sector. It has information about farming profitability, now at a 15year low, and how sheep and cattle farmers’ profit has more than halved in the last two years with an average return on capital of 3-4%. Urban people also need connections that need farmer action. The annual Open Day and 10,000 visitors are one thing. Adopting a lamb is another. But a connection can be in multiple ways, and social media channels an obvious choice. Not relying on supermarkets for farming information as more than half have claimed.
The target is not four million individual urbanites but influential channels like the Green Party. Its predominantly urban party vote came first in two electorates, second in three and nearly second in another two. Its members, their MPs and Green local body councillors developed fifty policies. Eleven directly influenced farming and the Agriculture and Rural policy detailed 92 clauses. It can be criticised for its aspects but can be better informed for better policies, and presumably would welcome that. It is all about understanding.
A specific target would be their widely supported wealth tax proposal discouraging growth. Regardless, a 2.5% tax on wealth of more than $2m would just about unjustly equal a farmer’s net income, to be paid in cash every year. And add to the cost of supermarket food?