She said many of the regulations forced upon them in recent years were impractical, prohibitively expensive, and were creating "immense mental strain".
"We're constantly being told what we can and can't do. Everyone I know has had a gutful, and we can't stay silent anymore. We hope the townspeople will support us because the entire food-basket of New Zealand is at stake."
Barker, who owns a dairy farm with her husband Ross, said their compliance costs were increasingly "horrific".
She has been getting phone calls all week in the lead up to the protest, from desperate food producers - and people who work in related industries – from around the Rotorua region.
"They've had enough. Recently in the region's Significant Natural Areas process, one landowner had half of his property 'ring-fenced' as an SNA.
"This will mean he cannot use the land how he wants to, but still has to pay rates on this land, and he gets no support to meet the compliance costs associated with this regulation over his land."
Local protesters will be travelling from around Rotorua and gathering in the centre of town at 12pm.
Last month, the Government announced a scheme in which people buying electric vehicles could get as much as $8625 back from the Government through levies on high-emission vehicles from January 1.
The fees are expected to go up to $5175 for a new import or $2875 for a used import.
However, critics have been quick to note there are no suitable alternatives to replace high-emission vehicles such as utes and trucks used in the rural sector.
Bay of Plenty-based Labour list MP Angie Warren-Clark said it was understandable some of the rural sector felt aggrieved.
"They might be feeling targeted but actually, this is a target for everyone in the country. All of us need to make a shift where possible. It's really not about targeting a group of people."
Warren-Clark said the Government recognised there were alternative options for many who use heavy-load vehicles, but the work to reduce carbon emission had to start somewhere. The tax affected only new purchases - not existing fleets or second-hand buys - which for many businesses could be written off for tax purposes anyway, she said.
"It's about thinking about consumerism, whether you really need to buy that new vehicle."
Groundswell NZ's position statement
1. The National Policy Statement on Freshwater must be scrapped. Setting and attaining freshwater guidelines should be the jurisdiction of catchment groups, in association with regional councils. The Pomahaka catchment group is proof this approach works.
2. Big-stick regulations for Significant Natural Areas such as wetlands and landscapes must be abandoned or re-written immediately, with funding redirected to proven systems like the QEII National Trust. More than 180,000 hectares of private land has already been placed in protection by landowners in partnership with the trust. This approach works. Voluntarily placing land in trust gives landowners a sense of pride; they will look after it well. Being forced into it means the opposite. We see the proposed Government regulations regarding significant natural areas as a land grab. Private property rights must be protected.
3. The National Policy Statement on Indigenous Biodiversity should be scrapped. This policy punishes the landowners who have already been proactive in conservation, turns biodiversity into a liability, and wastes millions of dollars on tick-box significance assessments. Councils should be able to work with and support the many landowner initiatives such as landcare & catchment groups and the QEII National Trust. It is essential to protect landowners' private property rights.
4. Seasonal rural workers from overseas should be prioritised through MIQ: we urgently need rural contractors, horticulturalists, dairy farmers and fruit-pickers. The rural sector is doing the heavy-lifting for the NZ economy, now more than ever, and the mental strain on farmers and growers, of continuous long hours and product loss, is becoming unbearable. Government must stop calling these workers 'unskilled labour' and instead refer to them as skilled manual labourers. That's what they are. These people harvest kiwifruit and apples expertly, with no bruising, allowing the fruit to be exported into high-value markets with certainty. Just because people do not tick the box for degrees does not mean they are not critical to the NZ export machine.
5. The NZ Emissions Trading Scheme is seeing large areas of farmland incentivised into pines and a significant cost-burden borne by the world's most emissions-efficient farmers. The unworkable elements of climate-change policy which are crucifying farmers and growers must be withdrawn.
6. High country legislation – the Crown Pastoral Land Reform Bill – is another big-stick layer of regulation being applied to our high-country farmers, over and above existing council regulations. This unnecessary burden must be lifted. We do not know a single high-country farmer who is not passionate about his environment.
7. The 'Ute tax', or the Government's Clean Car Package rebate scheme, must be scrapped as soon as possible. There is no electric alternative to the ute – a vehicle which is essential to New Zealand's economic heavy-lifters: farmers, horticulturalists, industry support people and tradesmen. If there is no alternative, the policy is clearly unworkable and merely another financial burden.
