Editorial: Dairy woes still a worry

Fieldays at Mystery Creek

There probably weren't too many dairy farmers at the Rotorua Chamber of Commerce's lunch yesterday.

Chances are the local cow cockies were either joining the crowds at Fieldays at Mystery Creek, or hard at work on the farm.

Though if any had made the trip into town, it would have been interesting to hear their reaction to what Bill English had to say.

Speaking about last month's Budget at what's become an annual event at the Distinction Hotel, the Minster of Finance and Deputy Prime Minister said the dairy industry could expect the next few months to be its toughest in four years.

That comes off the back of another slump in dairy prices, and news yesterday hundreds of Fonterra's 1500 head office and support function staff would be laid off as the company tries to drive up returns.

But Mr English told the assembled business people that Rotorua was resilient, and farmers were used to ups and downs.

He also said, while dairy was an important industry, it wasn't as important as some people thought - despite it accounting for 20 per cent of the country's export income.

Farmers themselves will be the first to admit they work in an industry prone to outside influences, whether it be droughts, floods or external factors influencing dairy payouts. That's reality and most accept that. Mr English reminded those at the lunch to "keep dairy in context". Which, one imagines, is much easier to do for townies not directly reliant on it. Perhaps not so easy for farmers.