Frustrated farmers ready themselves to take over central streets in protest of Government regulations

Farmers and tradies across the country are preparing to hit the streets on Friday for a "howl of a protest".

They're rounding up their dogs, utes and tractors to fight back against increasing Government costs and regulations.

A Ford Ranger is Roger Beattie's daily workhorse. It helps him move feed, stock and equipment around his hilly farm properties.

"Everybody uses a ute for a legitimate purpose unless they are a thief," he told Newshub. "You can't fit 10 bails of hay into an electric vehicle [EV]."

The Government's EV rebate scheme - dubbed the 'ute tax' - is the straw that broke the camel's back for many of New Zealand's farmers.

But Friday's mass protest is about more than just vehicles.

"It's come from just the sheer amount of regulations and costs that are impacting the farming sector," says Groundswell coordinator Jamie McFadden. 

Farming group Groundswell is organising Friday's protest.

McFadden disagrees with recent criticism directed at Groundswell's founders by the Green Party co-leader James Shaw.

"You've actually got a group of pākehā farmers from down south who have always pushed back against the idea that they should observe any kind of regulation," Shaw said earlier this month.

But McFadden says farmers are "on-board with doing the environmental stuff".

"Farmers are on-board with... lifting our game and improving our practices," says McFadden. "So that's not the debate at all, it's the how."

Events will be staged in more than 50 towns and cities, with some regional mayors joining in on the action.

Westland District Mayor Bruce Smith says the time is right. 

"Because there are so many changes and so many attacks on private property rights, we can't just sit back and do nothing. We have to push back."

Farmers are frustrated over what they see as "land grabs" - reclassifying private property as Significant National Areas (SNAs) and reclaiming productive paddocks as wetlands.

David McLaughlin has been told he'll have to fence off 20 percent of his Flaxton farm.

"It's good grazing pasture at the moment, and they want to return it to swampland," he told Newshub.

A neighbour is set to lose half of his farm to wetlands - all without compensation.

"People have worked for a long time to get property. And to have someone take it away is heartbreaking."

It's hoped Friday's nationwide protest will drive home a strong message to the Government.