That’s when then-Prime Minister David Lange described farming as a sunset industry.
He has been proved wrong, again and again.
Prices for what we produce have fluctuated, and various sectors have gone through tough times.
There is a sheep-sag right now, at least as bad as the 80s ag-sag. It might even be worse because while prices for lamb, mutton, wool and by-products are in the doldrums, costs are high with no room for further cuts.
But what goes down will, sooner or later, go back up and other sectors, most notably dairy, are doing well and rather than being a sunset industry, farming continues to make significant, and much-needed, contributions to the domestic and export economies.
At least some of the credit for that is due to being forced into meeting markets rather than relying on handouts.
While there are good grounds to criticise the way it was done, getting rid of subsidies and dragging food and fibre production into the real world in the 80s was the right thing to do, and the results have been better for farming and the country.
I don’t know whether UK farmers can be confident of such a good outcome from what they are facing especially with this attitude:
Click to view
This is an industry we could do without.
We don’t need small farmers.
Does he think food grows in supermarkets?
Does he not understand its not just farming and farmers, it’s the individuals and businesses which service and supply them that would be destroyed?
Does he not understand the pressures farmers are facing?
There is a sheep-sag right now, at least as bad as the 80s ag-sag. It might even be worse because while prices for lamb, mutton, wool and by-products are in the doldrums, costs are high with no room for further cuts.
But what goes down will, sooner or later, go back up and other sectors, most notably dairy, are doing well and rather than being a sunset industry, farming continues to make significant, and much-needed, contributions to the domestic and export economies.
At least some of the credit for that is due to being forced into meeting markets rather than relying on handouts.
While there are good grounds to criticise the way it was done, getting rid of subsidies and dragging food and fibre production into the real world in the 80s was the right thing to do, and the results have been better for farming and the country.
I don’t know whether UK farmers can be confident of such a good outcome from what they are facing especially with this attitude:
Click to view
This is an industry we could do without.
We don’t need small farmers.
Does he think food grows in supermarkets?
Does he not understand its not just farming and farmers, it’s the individuals and businesses which service and supply them that would be destroyed?
Does he not understand the pressures farmers are facing?
Click to view
Ele Ludemann is a North Otago farmer and journalist, who blogs HERE - where this article was sourced.
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