Open AccessImpact of Government and regulatory policy on hill country farming
Author(s) -
Anders Crofoot
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
grassland research and practice series
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2463-4751
pISSN - 0110-8581
DOI - 10.33584/rps.16.2016.3256
Subject(s) - agriculture , government (linguistics) , unintended consequences , public policy , business , agricultural policy , national policy , public economics , economics , economic policy , economic growth , natural resource economics , political science , international trade , geography , philosophy , linguistics , archaeology , law
New Zealand has a long history of Government policy affecting agriculture. Some policy interventions, such as Producer Boards were long-lived, others like Land Development Encouragement Loans and the Supplementary Minimum Price scheme ramped up quickly and were then dismantled. Currently, the National Policy for Freshwater Management and the Emissions Trading Scheme are having mixed effects on hill country farmers. While regulation is often seen by farmers as a negative, environmental regulation has the potential to be used for market advantage. Farmers need to engage in policy and regulation development as they can help avoid unintended consequences. If they do not then they are ceding control of important aspects of their business to others. This paper explores some of the impacts of past and present policy on hill country farming from a farmer's perspective, and based on 9 years of regular involvement in development and implementation of policy at a local, regional and national level. Keywords: policy, National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management, Emissions Trading Scheme, farmer engagement