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Dairy giant Fonterra has welcomed Government spending initiatives announced in the Budget - including $28 million over the next four years to improve sustainability and productivity.
The company's chairman, Henry van der Heyden, said the farmer co-operative was pleased about increased research and development assistance for agriculture and climate change, and that a boost to biosecurity funding was also good news.
Van der Heyden said $8 million in extra funding for climate change research - over four years - was a timely boost.
Industry bodies in the dairy and meat and wool sectors took up some of the slack when Federated Farmers lobbied against increased farmer funding for the Pastoral Greenhouse Gas Research Consortium which is seeking ways to reduce the agricultural emissions that make up 47.3 per cent of the nation's greenhouse gases.
"This has the biggest potential to make a significant impact on New Zealand's emissions profile and we warmly support any Government acknowledgement of this and the extra provision of new research funding," Van der Heyden said.
Federated Farmer spokesman Don Nicolson said there was good news in the Budget, but there was also increased Government spending, and added costs for business.
- NZPA
