The Federation wants your feedback

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One of Federated Farmers' great strengths is that our regional policy work is informed by members.

This brings much-needed realism to local government decision-making around the country's council chambers.

Many local government regulations are written without a full understanding of farming realities. It's up to Federated Farmers to provide extra assistance to councils so they know exactly what happens down on the farm, and how a rule will impact on normal farming activities. Federated Farmers is able to provide real-life examples to inform councils, but to do this we need your help.

Most of our policy advisors have rural backgrounds and the farming way of life is important to us. I grew up on a sheep and beef farm in Hawke's Bay, and I am very proud to hail from several generations of farming forbears.

My policy work is informed by this first-hand knowledge, but I really appreciate our members' local knowledge when I am working in a district that is unfamiliar to me, or with farm industries that are outside my personal experience such as deer.

Federated Farmers as an institution has a huge body of knowledge, and every member can contribute to this by providing their feedback when it is called for. To provide real representation of our members, your experiences and ideas are needed.

Recently, Federated Farmers has ventured into using Survey Monkey as a tool to obtain members' valuable feedback. Survey Monkey is an easy online tool through which farmers can fill out either traditional yes/no agree/disagree questions, and also contribute their personal ideas and responses to particular regulatory situations. All responses are anonymous.

The collection of member feedback like this is invaluable when it comes to representation and advocacy. It is compelling for decision-makers when we are able to demonstrate just how many farmers are impacted by a regulation and in what ways.

Members are always welcome to pick up the phone or send an email to convey your feedback, and Survey Monkey adds another tool for members to convey their responses. Member-driven policy is what makes Federated Farmers so effective.