Farmers complain about climate change events they are helping generate
For decades, Federated Farmers and the political Right have denied climate change, sabotaged environmental protections, and demanded exemptions from accountability. Now, as extreme weather devastates crops, roads, and livelihoods, they want sympathy — without acknowledging their role in accelerating the crisis they’re suffering from.
Wait, wait, wait.
What?
Extreme weather hits agriculture — surprise?
Canterbury hail and wet summer leave arable farmers struggling to harvest
He said the cost of the hailstorms this year had totalled $10 million in Canterbury alone.
“The frustrating thing is that the crop was looking really good this season and now some of it’s not usable.”
The point was that growers had already spent all the money on the crop, so when it was ruined, they lost all that income, he said.
Another arable farmer RNZ spoke to said the losses were putting a lot of strain on finances.
“It’s not just the hail; the ongoing wet weather means we can’t harvest, and the quality of the crop is going down.
“My milling wheat won’t make the quality grade, so I will have to sell it as feed wheat for the dairy industry, so I’ll lose about $100 a tonne.”
NZ Herald
Storm damage, broken roads, and mounting costs
There’s more
‘Plan B’ wanted for highways that keep getting damaged by storms
Farmers on the East Coast are worried about how long it will take to reopen storm-damaged State Highway 2.
A large part of the Waioweka Gorge – which connects Gisborne/Tai Rāwhiti and Bay of Plenty – has been closed for just over a week, after heavy rain on 16 January caused about 40 slips.
New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) said it was going to take several weeks to clear the road.
But farmers were concerned taking the long detour to avoid the Waioweka Gorge closure raised animal welfare issues and put extra costs on farmers.
Climate denial meets consequence
Let me see if I can get this completely straight.
Farmers, who have had the Government bend over backwards for them by burning environmental protections, are complaining about the extreme damage being caused by the extreme weather that is being caused by climate change that they ar helping cause.
It’s an arsonist complaining about homelessness while still holding the petrol can.
The Political Right and Federated Framers have done everything in their power to destroy or water down environmental protections and are now complaining as climate change arrives.
I thought you right wing trolls claimed climate change was a socialist hoax.
Who’s laughing now chumps?
As TDB has been pointing out for its 13 year history, climate change is real, it is here and it’s going to get worse.
The time of consequences is upon us.
You reap what you sow
You reap what you sow.
Perhaps you could give this guy a heads up re our farmers being instrumental in causing global heating?
Go you for having found our farmers guilty. ” Farmers complain about climate change events they are helping generate.”
So, you can hate on our farmers while you have your hand in their pockets. Multi-tasking… impressed.
The Guardian
George Monbiot. An actual reporter.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jan/27/uk-government-report-ecosystem-collapse-foi-national-security
The left would rather have everyone literally starve to death than have abundant healthy food on the table. New Zealand has one the lowest carbon footprint sources of food on the planet. Any cuts to NZ agriculture will result in MORE emissions, since literally no other country produces food with as low a CO2 footprint as we do.
Your comment is just a repetition of the lies promulgated by the Fed and DairyNZ.
NZ is one of the more efficient dairy producers, but not the most efficient at all.
And the fact is most of our food exports are dairy which is the most inefficient form of food production there is.
Your argument is like claiming you’re a greenie because you drive a Mustang and not a Bugatti Chiron.
When someone who drives a 1956 kombi is far more efficient than either of you.
All farmers must do is to do nothing. No crops, no meats, no wool, no milk but perhaps most importantly … no money. No free money for you beautiful urbane people. But then I guess the Skeleton Look is so [in] dahlings.
Here we go! High Times in Herne Bay https://youtu.be/tpKCqp9CALQ?si=aGz4EoFKeU4u2CLW
Our scant few farmers have been feeding and bleeding free money into urban wasps nests for far too long. That must stop.
Farmers? Don’t you dare drive a tractor anywhere other than into a shed to pop those batteries in a trickle-charge then wait until you hear them bones rattling.
Climate change is an existential crisis.
Unfortunately unless China, USA, India do something we are screwed.
Agree, nothing to do with New Zealand farmers.
So you are effectively recommending that NZ becomes a freeloader on the rest of the world’s efforts?
Freeloading is the classic problem facing all projects of collective action. If one party obtains the benefits of collective action without contributing to the effort, others may do the same. This puts the whole collective action project in jeopardy. Or the freeloader may be punished severely by the other parties.
The correct response to the USA’s climate denialism (China in contrast is trying), is to keep participating in the collective effort to reduce emissions, but also realize that the USA’s failures mean that CC adaptation strategies are also necessary and urgent.
Ridiculous AB, illogical.
Heh. It’s the only logical position,if one believes CC is real.. That’s why you are reduced to silly 3-word contradictions.
One of those countries is leading the charge to renewables .The USA however is heading in the other direction with the mantra ,POLLUT BABY POLLUT .Not sure where India is headed other than exporting its people to other countries .
I am having a visit from a farming family next week which should be interesting because they have jumped on the vote Winston band wagon .My question to them what part of his policy are they voting for?Is it HEALTH ,which means we will do what ever Robert Kennedy says .Is it foreign affairs ?which means we will do what ever the orange one wants and throw in a blow job .Is it mine baby mine ,which means lets rip up every part of NZ and give it away for nothing then get the bottom dwellers to pay for the clean up .Or is it rape the ocean of every living creature and fill it with shit ,animal and human .Apart from the above I see no policy .
You should learn the difference between cropping farmers and dairy farmers before suggesting that they reap what they sow. In Ellesmere there are strict rules about nitrogen use in cropping which is the most efficient way to provide food so while they might not be protesting against the dairy industry those suffering a loss from hail damage are more deserving of sympathy than condemnation. I can’t argue against your linking the political right and federated farmers and their denial of environmental concerns to the extreme climate events although it’s only a major change in the diet choices of people around the world that will change the economic incentives that support the current farming to provide animal products.
Perhaps you missed the irony of the grain producer selling his produce to the dairy farmers.
And claiming that the choices of people lead to food production models is contrary to decades of evidence.
The food industry heavily determines what people “choose” to eat, so food is full of corn syrup as political decisions meant a surplus of corn had to be used for something.
Even recently, an article in Times magazine saying butter was no worse for you than margarine has been massaged by DairyNZ and Federated Farmers into the widely quote mistruth that butter is good for you, which is patent nonsense.
Science, funded by the global food production industry, determines what most people eat although a few may be educated enough to make informed choices.