Chris Tobin13:45, May 27 2021
JOHN BISSET/STUFF
Immediate past president of Federated Farmers South Canterbury Jason Grant says the proposed rate rise provides no corresponding increase in service for farmers.
Proposed rates increases in the Timaru District Council’s draft Long Term Plan are “unacceptable” according Federated Farmers South Canterbury. In his submission on behalf of the organistion, Federated Farmers’ immediate past president Jason Grant said the rates example table in the draft Long Term Plan (LTP) showed farmers would face between 28 and 30 per cent increases for farm properties, “for no corresponding increase in service or benefit”. “We note that at the same time, there will be comparatively small increases for most residential ratepayers.
“I felt it was time to get myself involved in other things as well,” Anderson said. “But I really love the outdoors and working in the field. That’s what has kept me doing this.” Anderson, a sheep and beef farmer, said he was looking forward to reaching out to “all sectors” of farming. “One of the advantages of (previous president) Jason Grant, was his experience across a wide range of disciplines. He had experience in working on sheep, beef, deer, arable and dairy farms,” Anderson said. “I’m looking forward to the challenge of working alongside all sectors of farming to get a good result. I’m going to learn a lot, I think.”
2 hr 54 min ago
There’s no reason not to get children back to in-person class in the fall, Fauci says
From CNN’s Jen Christensen
Although a vaccine for younger children likely won’t be available by the time school starts in the fall, Dr. Anthony Fauci told the House Appropriations committee on Tuesday that it should be safe for children of all ages to go back to in-person class then.
Given the percentage of teachers vaccinated already now and into the fall, “there should be no reason not to get children of any age back to in-person school by the time we get to the fall term,” said Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Several leaders of the NIH appeared before the committee to discuss the agency’s proposed budget.
Photo credit: Getty Images Global trade in food and agricultural products grew by 3.5% last year, according to the WTO, leading to descriptions that the sector was robust and resilient in the face of the worst pandemic in a century. However, a USDA working paper says the impact of the coronavirus was obscured by such factors as the de-escalation of the Sino-U.S. trade war. “Holding other factors constant, our estimates suggest that COVID-19 reduced overall agricultural trade by the approximate range of 5% to 10%, an effect two to three times smaller than our estimated effect for nonagricultural trade,” said the working paper from the USDA’s office of the chief economist.