Our job is to write submissions reflecting the views and concerns of our farmer members.
Any resident (or their representative) is entitled to make a submission and councils actively encourage people to have their say.
After all, they're only as good as the information that feeds into them.
I will write submissions on four or five councils' annual plans this autumn -- a relatively modest number compared with some of my colleagues.
A previous CEO used to joke that the average Federated Farmers policy adviser reads their height in paper every year and that's pretty accurate.
Daunting as this might sound to some people, there's a strangely satisfying feeling in watching a stack of paper slowly diminish and a submission emerge.
Federated Farmers, like the council, depends on our community to inform this work.
While we do the grunt work for our members, we rely on farmers and rural people generally to relay their feedback to us, so that we can make sure they are heard.
So if you have information or concerns we need to know, please pick up the phone and call your local Feds office this annual plan season.
