Federated Farmers is backing the Government’s decision to review raw milk regulations early.

Agriculture Minister David Carter announced this week that milk supply rules under the Dairy Industry Restructuring Act would be looked at in March.

In August he said DIRA milk would continue until Fonterra’s market share fell to 80 per cent.

Feds Dairy Chairperson Lachlan McKenzie says the fast tracking is welcome, as almost no one is happy with the current set up.

“We certainly need a review, nobody is happy with it at the moment and we need to sort it out. We want it done yesterday."

Mr McKenzie says although the review is long overdue, the Government should manage the process carefully.

"This has been a contentious issue for the last eight years.

The Government’s signalled that a review is to be done, we want it done quickly but we’re prepared to work to the Government’s timeframe to get an enduring answer.”

THUMBS DOWN FOR DATABASE

Lachlan McKenzie hasn’t been as forgiving over MAF’s new farm information database.

The $3m FarmsOnLine system will be launched in March, and combines data on land use, farm ownership and stock that is currently spread across several systems.

Mr McKenzie says bringing the information together is an exercise in duplication.

“If it was replacing something that was old and inefficient -  well and good."

"What it appears, though, is that we have yet another database, another set of people running it, and another set of costs associated with it.

"It doesn’t seem smart to me.”

FarmsOnLine will also include information gathered under the new National Animal Traceability Scheme.