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Farmer friendly

  • 14/07/2005

Farmer friendly Australia's federal government recently decided to compensate farmers for the cost they will incur in following new environmental laws. The country's agriculture minister Warren Truss said since the laws reduce land values and farm productivity, the government must bear part of the costs.

The move might not augur well with some states, which oppose the formulation of a national plan to manage the laws. But Truss said a local catchment-based system, which would judge the value of the work farmers carry out to protect the environment, would overcome the differences. "The Natural Resource Management groups are jointly funded by the Common wealth and the states

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