They also said the widespread conversion of farmland into trees had to stop and pointed out it was happening on good farming land, not just poor ground.
“I’m sure they took it on board. We were pretty forceful about it,” he said.
“Most of the talking was done by the PM and James Shaw but they certainly listened to what we had to say and we didn’t mince words,” he said.
Groundswell had repeatedly asked for a meeting with Ardern and been snubbed, but after recently writing to both her and Shaw, they received the timeslot.
Paterson believed the visit was worthwhile.
“I like to hope they did appreciate getting information right from the grassroots”.
There were indications of possibly further meetings, he said.
While they did not have a “massive list of achievements” to tell Groundswell supporters, that was not their expectation.
“It’s really about making sure they’re under absolutely no illusions about where grassroots farmers are.”
A spokesman for the Prime Minister said there was a sharing of information and views, as was the case with the regular meetings she had with farming sector groups.
