With high pay-outs and a forecast rise next year, many share milkers are staying put this moving day, Southland Federated Farmers sharemilker chairman says.
Dairy farmers were both shocked and delighted by the latest large price spike. Southland dairy farm owner Brent McKenzie – who has farm interests in both Otama and Morton Mains – said it was a “very positive” result for not only farmers but the economy in general. When prices were good for farmers it often flowed through to buying more machinery and other spending in the wider community, McKenzie said. “Everyone gets a bit of it. It’s the old story; when farming is going well [New Zealand] is going well.” New Zealand Institute of Economic Research data shows dairy sector spending accounted for more than 10 percent of Southland’s GDP. The dairy industry is also Southland’s largest employer.
Robyn Edie/Stuff
Former Southlander Syd King, 69, beside the memorial glass table in Queens Park that honours his sister Margery Simpson. King has walked the length of New Zealand on the Te Araroa trail to honour his sister and raise funds for Parkinson s NZ.
What started as a boyhood dream turned into a 120-day fundraising mission for a former Southlander. When Syd King set out to walk the Te Araroa Trail, it occurred to him that it would be a great way to honour his sister, well-known Southland artist Margery Simpson. Simpson died of multiple system atrophy (MSA) – a Parkinsonism condition – so while he was at it, he figured he would raise some money for Parkinson’s NZ to support Kiwis going through the same struggles as his sister.
He was at a Christchurch backpackers wondering what to do next. Little did he know at the time that his journey to Southland 18 years ago he would become part of a wave of Filipino workers that have changed the south and farming industry. Tolentino is believed to be the second Filipino dairy worker to arrive in Southland (2003) and the first was his friend Mark Taguiam who started working on a farm in 2002. Today, Southland is home to about 2000 Filipinos who have predominantly worked in the dairy, nursing and rest home industries. When in Christchurch, not knowing what to do, Tolentino was given a lifeline by former farmers the Carpenters. The couple employed Taguiam at the time.