Willi has been emulated: New Zealand farmers are planting green crosses

Willi has been emulated: New Zealand farmers are planting green crosses

Johanna Michel, AGRICULTURAL HEUTE*

© stock.adobe.com/Reiner

A New Zealand farmer discovered green crosses in Germany and brought the idea back to the archipelago. As agricultural regulations are increasingly strict in New Zealand as well, there are now hundreds of green crosses (symbolic image) there.

In northern New Zealand, more and more farmers are placing green crosses along roads and on farmland. They thus follow the idea of ​​Willi the farmer to warn politicians of the constraints and prohibitions that weigh on agriculture.

As the New Zealand news portal reports Stuff, the green crosses have so far been installed in the Waikato and Auckland areas. The group Your Food Producers (your food producers)a group of farmers, is at the origin of this awareness-raising action.

According Stuff, it is to be expected that the green crosses will spread throughout the country. Hundreds of crosses have already been installed in North Waikato and South Auckland.

A New Zealand farmer saw the green crosses in Germany

Rosemarie Costar, a spokeswoman for Your Food Producers and dairy farmer in Waikato, said campaign officials in New Zealand had been inspired by the German initiative. One of their colleagues visited Germany and learned regarding the awareness campaign. THE Food Producers would then have adapted it. In October, the first farmers in New Zealand installed their crosses.

In 2019, Willi the farmer had erected the first green cross. Farmers from all over Germany then joined him and drew the attention of society and politicians to their situation by planting green crosses on their fields.

Winning consumer understanding with green crosses

As in Germany, the green crosses express farmers’ dissatisfaction with the proliferation and tightening of agricultural regulations. But the goal of Your Food Producers is also and above all to make consumers aware of farmers’ problems and to inform them of the consequences on food prices. For example, new requirements for fertilization and phytosanitary treatments increase consumer prices. Another cause would be the higher requirements for animal welfare or the reduction of greenhouse gases.

New Zealand farmers are asking for practical legislation and want to prevent the New Zealand economy from being put at risk. As the group points out, they are committed to safe and quality food production. At the same time, they notably indicate on their website that New Zealand food producers have one of the lowest carbon footprints in the world.

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* Johanna Michel has been working since 2020 as a cross-media editor at AGRICULTURAL TODAY. An employee specializing in media and information services, she first worked in the administration of the Bundestag German and followed, in parallel, studies of agronomy at the Humboldt University of Berlin. Within the Operations and Markets Department, she is particularly interested in the implementation of agricultural policy decisions due to her knowledge of legislation.

Source : Role model Farmer Willi: Farmers in New Zealand set up green crosses | agrarheute.com