The latest expansion of NSW Farmers laid down the welcome mat at Murwillumbah on Tuesday, with the Tweed Valley and Byron hinterland branch promoting a unified voice among a fragmented and very diverse farming community.
About 50 people attended the opening including sugar cane growers, dairy producers, livestock, nut and vegetable farmers.
NSW Farmers' immediate past president James Jackson promoted the lobby group's expertise in swinging opinion within state government, showing graphic evidence that portrayed its influence among sitting Liberal ministers as leading all the other squeaky wheels haunting the halls of parliament.
The newly appointed Tweed branch chairman Craig Huf, a former Darling Downs cropping farmer now running beef cattle at Burringbar, pointed to some of the key concerns of member farmers with the number one complaint being a lack of allowable secondary dwellings on family farms to cater for the next generation.
"The current requirements to submit a development application are prohibitive," he said.
Clarence sugar farmer Ross Farlow, chairman of the Northern Cane Growers' Council, addressed the meeting and emphasised that farming on the North Coast over the past 10 years had evolved from "How much rain did you get, Bill?" to having "a solicitor on speed dial".
Over-reach of legislation and the cross agency fight for relevance is a daily struggle," he said.
Colin Brooks, who started the Combined Tweed Rural Industries group in 1981 - now disbanded - said former agricultural land now deemed by the council as unsuitable for farming was a "major issue" for the Tweed Valley, along with a lack of government support for extra dwellings on farms.
Numerous supporters of the new branch hoped for a strong voice to support local farming while Tweed Shire mayor Cr Chris Cherry emphasised the importance of food security in light of Covid restrictions placed upon cross border deliveries during lockdown.
- More photos in next week's The Land.
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