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FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – July 4, 2022
Special report
Challenges beyond the farm gate Annette Scott annette.scott@globalhq.co.nz
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VER the past 20 years there has been significant change in the way arable farmers manage their crops and in the rules under which they are required to farm. Leeston farmer and immediate past chair of the Foundation for Arable Research (FAR) David Birkett believes arable farmers are doing a good job behind the farm gate. “Most arable farms are in a good position not to get caught out in a pandemic, severe weather event, global unrest – we are quite diverse, it’s beyond the farm gate that we end up fixing. “Within the farm gate we have done a respectable job developing resilient farming systems, but beyond the farm gate we have very little influence and up until this past couple of years we have largely been pricetakers,” Birkett said. “Now we have more contracts coming at us than growers and it is the first time arable farmers have been in a position of choice and opportunities and in a way, we don’t know how to react. “It’s quite strange we have to learn to manage the options in front of us, it’s a psychological
change. “A lot of farmers are very loyal and at the end of the day it is a commercial decision and opportunities should be made in that light.” Communication will be a big part of the future to know what is happening globally and on-farm globally, because there is no more land to grow on in New Zealand. “We can grow different crops in different areas; Canterbury is largely full and while there’s potential in Hawke’s Bay and Southland, we need the infrastructure to line up,” he said. With production getting increasingly more difficult, new options are coming all the time from Northern Hemisphere countries running trials to see what more NZ can grow. “While we are seeing change it is not as big a change as they are seeing,” he said. “It’s almost a queue of companies wanting to grow in NZ and we have got to be smart about how we select the best in what we accept in NZ. “Collectively with the seed merchants we need to be smarter to ensure we are getting the best value from the land we have available. “At the end of the day farming is about managing risk; a resilient farming system is one that manages risk well.
ADAPT: David Birkett is confident arable growers will continue to adapt and innovate to ensure the industry remains an important part of NZ’s food security. Photo: Annette Scott
Now we have more contracts coming at us than growers and it is the first time arable farmers have been in a position of choice and opportunities and in a way, we don’t know how to react. David Birkett Arable farmer
“On-farm we have got it right, we have had to because of low returns.” The next challenge is offfarm, and Birkett said it is not necessarily value-add.
“It’s working more collectively right across the industry, including where we go for global contracts,” he said. Birkett is the third generation on the family land, farming 200 hectares at Leeston, near Christchurch. The property has always been a cropping farm, but over the past 20 years it has changed from a conventional full cultivation-based system to much lighter cultivation, incorporating crop residues back into the soil whenever possible. “We have improved soil structure as we aim to have a lowinput system, making it a much simpler operation,” he said. Birkett grows malting barley for the bread beer industry, herbage grasses, clovers, peas, beans, seed and process vegetables. The vegetable seeds have
helped keep arable afloat in recent years, when you get it right it pays well but it does come with associated risk. NZ’s advantage in what is now a multi-million-dollar industry is that it can reliably grow high quality vegetable seed. Agriculture has always required farmers and farm businesses to be adept at managing change and in recent years Birkett says that rate of change has increased considerably. “This is driven by developments in research and technology and by regulatory requirements,” he said. “Whatever changes we encounter in the future, I believe that arable growers will continue to adapt and innovate, ensuring that we remain an important part of both NZ and global agriculture.”
How to gain the value of grain Annette Scott annette.scott@globalhq.co.nz
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OOD waste champion and Eat NZ chief executive Angela Clifford says opportunities abound for grains in New Zealand’s future food story. “The arable industry is quite an unusual group in a quirky, unique way but we see huge hope in the industry in the future food story for NZ,” Clifford said. “In the food industry we have noticed things have become very siloed, we need to get out of the silos and pull all the threads together. “We need to highlight the importance of grain and seed in the food chain story to create resilience in time of supply chain disruption.” Clifford said despite being one of the most abundant food
producing countries, NZ is not getting great outcomes in its own communities. “We need to feed our people first before we go out to the world and still have hungry people at home. “We have a vision for what comes next for NZ food and there are huge opportunities for NZ food producers.” Eat NZ Grains is working with the Foundation for Arable Research (FAR) to find a way forward. “We are working around a culture where consumers have a knowledge of vegetables and meat but have very little knowledge of grain and no understanding of grain in bread. “It’s slow work and it’s big work to change culture, but we need to raise awareness about this as part of our food system.” Clifford cited Griffins using
100% NZ flour in their biscuits – who knew that? “Why don’t we have these business screaming from the roof top about this, that’s the hurdle here and how do we unpack that to discover why when other industries would be. “We need to connect pieces of arable into food culture. “As a country we have a culture of meat, wool, dairy – how can we make grains and seeds the most important food group in NZ and make it affordable to the average New Zealander? “In the economies of scale, we are not going to compete with the $2 loaf of bread but we do know from a recent survey that New Zealanders are prepared to pay more for NZ grains but we also need to assure all pathways in the value chain are benefiting and getting returns. “NZ arable is very bad at telling
THICKEN THE PLOT: Eat NZ chief executive Angela Clifford says the New Zealand arable industry is very bad at telling its story.
its story, we need to start the journey of understanding and the first step is to be proud of what you put on the plate.
“Speak up, seek connection, tell your story and show you are on a journey for better environmental outcomes,” Clifford said.
