NZ First's Winston Peters appears to have softened the blow to farmers in his party's deal with Labour, led by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.

With agreements signed and ministerial posts filled, the Labour-led Government is set to get down to business. Reporter Jono Galuszka looks at who may benefit and who may suffer as a result of the deals done with NZ First and the Green Party.

Farmers are worried they'll be paying through the nose if they're subject to a water or carbon tax. But students and environmentalists are applauding what they say could be the most progressive Government in our history.

The reality is the Government won't be as radical as the naysayers warned, but nor will it continue the incrementalism of the John Key years.

ROBERT KITCHIN/STUFF Greens leader James Shaw, shaking hands with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, managed to get the new Government to look at a "rent to own" scheme for the houses Labour is going to build.

Farmers fare better than expected

If this piece was set out as lists of winners and losers, farmers would probably end up closer to the winners than losers' side.

That is a far cry from what people were saying before the election when turning their minds to a Labour win.

MURRAY WILSON/STUFF Rusty, a dog trained to sniff out invasive weed velvet leaf, will hopefully be less busy with an investment in biosecurity on the way.

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The biggest issue was Labour's proposed tax on water, which would have applied to farmers.

It had people panicking, claiming cabbages would cost $18 and farms would be down the financial river without a paddle.

ROBERT KITCHIN/STUFF Waterholes like this one at Horseshoe Bend, Tokomaru, should be much cleaner, with the Greens deal seeing the Government commit to helping farmers be cleaner.

It all led to the infamous protest in Morrinsville, with hundreds of farmers gathering beneath a giant cow statue to decry the plans and a man holding a sign that described now-Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern as a "pretty communist".

But it seems NZ First has softened those policies. The water tax is out, while $400 million in Crown investment in irrigation stays.

There will also be an increase in biosecurity funding, which Horowhenua and Manawatū farmers should greet warmly after velvet leaf – a fast-spreading weed that takes nutrients from crops – established itself in those areas.

Arguably the biggest wins are a push to double the number of tree plantings to 100 million a year, and a $1 billion annual investment in regional New Zealand.

The $1b has not been allocated to anything specific, so could go toward farm-friendly projects, while the forestry push could see benefits for those willing to make use of marginal land.

Despite all those positives, there are worries about how farms will cope with the minimum wage rising to $20 an hour by 2020 and agriculture going into the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS).

Although a rise in the minimum wage will no doubt cut into the bottom lines of both farmers and small businesses serving the agricultural sector, the ETS changes are slightly more complex.

An independent Climate Commission will look into seeing if agriculture should be added to the scheme. If it says agriculture should, the industry would only need to pay for 5 per cent of the carbon it creates.

All that money would be put back into agriculture to encourage innovation, pollution mitigation and additional tree planting.

All that, along with a push to get research and development spending to 2 per cent of gross domestic product within 10 years, should help farmers reach the goal of doubling the value of agricultural exports by 2025.

Students no longer slumming it

Students are in for their best deal since Helen Clark's Government took the interest off student loans in a 2005 election promise that tilted the vote to the Left.

Palmerston North students have had it a bit better than their cousins in places like Dunedin, with landlords and the Massey University Students' Association doing a good job in recent years to modernise flats and living costs being lower.

The first 100 days of the new Government will see life improve further, if Labour sticks to its promises.

Student allowances and living-cost loans are set to go up by $50 a week, while the first year of tertiary fees will be free from next year.

Passing the Healthy Homes Guarantee Bill, requiring all rentals to be warm and dry, will be a boon for students living in rougher housing.

The minimum wage rise will also be good news for students looking to keep their loans down by working while studying.

Builder and buyers in the money, housing investors and sellers less so

The healthy homes legislation will likely hit some landlords in the pocket, which could end up with rising rents to cover the bills.

There is also the issue of extending the bright-line test – a capital gains tax in all but name for people who flick off rental properties – from two years to five.

Builders will be rubbing their hands in glee, though, and not only because of all those renovations.

Labour's Kiwibuild programme will see 100,000 new houses built in the next 10 years. That will not only see a demand for builders, but joiners, plumbers, electricians and everyone else involved in building a house.

The biggest boom in Manawatū will come from Labour's plan to build 150 new homes in Palmerston North – half state houses, half homes that will be sold at cost to first-home buyers.

The Greens deal refers to a "rent to own" scheme as part of Labour's plan, which would make Kiwibuild houses an even more attractive buy.

That will obviously get first-home buyers excited, but may have implications for people looking to sell.

After all, would you rather buy a brand new three-bedroom house for $275,000 – the number Ardern put as the selling price of the most expensive homes in the programme – on a rent-to-own basis, or pay as much as $100,000 more and have to stump up a deposit and be at the mercy of the banks?

None of those building plans are any good if there is not enough land around.

There was no talk about relaxing the Resource Management Act and the Greens deal speaks of having it "better enforced".

Green is the new black

Making the Government vehicle fleet emissions-free in nine years, significant investment in railways, planting 1 billion trees in 10 years and introducing a Zero Carbon Act – they all sound straight out of the Green Party playbook, but are actually deals NZ First and Labour struck as part of their coalition agreement.

It does not stop there – agriculture possibly in the ETS, more funding for the Department of Conservation, increased support to counter kauri dieback and myrtle rust and the establishment of an independent Climate Commission are on the cards.

Combine that with Ardern's comments pre-election that climate change was the nuclear-free issue of our generation and there is no doubt this Government is serious about going green.

What effect will that have in Manawatū and surrounding areas?

The Greens deal speaks about having 100 per cent renewable energy by 2035 and of solar panels on schools playing a part.

A few panels alone will not get us to that target. Large-scale solar farms and more wind farms could be on the cards.

The Greens deal makes mention of the Government helping farmers reduce emissions and improve water quality, the latter no doubt making a swim at waterholes like Horseshoe Bend much more appealing.