BUSINESS FUTURE FARMING
Farmers must be in the driver’s seat Words by: Anne Lee
a significant role. The decree has since ri Lanka’s disastrous organic been abandoned. Will says any change for farming experience should serve the agricultural sector in NZ, particularly as a warning to New Zealand when it comes to government or local farmers that they must body regulatory change, must be have a strong voice when based on a well-informed strategy it comes to regulation and and driven by farmers from primary sector strategies, behind the farm gate. Ngai Tahu farming and Farmers know the realities of forestry general manager Will farming and those realities need Burrett says. to be considered to inform change While an extreme example, within a solid strategy that then Will Burrett. he says it shows what can happen leads to better value. with uninformed change. “We can’t forget our first principles of Will was speaking at a future agriculture. We are marginal-cost farmers. focused forum Dairy 2032 hosted We need to maintain our cost structures. by agritech company Halter at Ngai “We are in a really inflated commodities Tahu’s 6757-hectare Te Whenua Hou market at the moment which is really farming operation at Eyrewell, north of exciting but we have to stay true to our Christchurch. core.” Will told about 100 farmers that As to where the world is headed in the watching events unfold in Sri Lanka had next 10 years Will pointed to indications been an “aha” moment. The economic for shifts in consumer preferences. and social impacts of a poorly informed The somewhat controversial EATand sudden move by the government to Lancet report in 2019 suggested stop importing fertiliser and ban the use that to improve human health and of pesticides has been swift and brutal, he environmental outcomes by 2050 says. people in many developed countries in The decreed, whole-of-country shift to particular needed to move to eating a lot organic agriculture was reportedly carried less red meat (up to 50% reduction) and out with little input from mainstream dairy while doubling the consumption farmers and the country’s agricultural of wholegrains, vegetables, nuts and science sector. legumes. Its aim, in part, was to improve But what does that kind of shift mean Sri Lanka’s balance of payments by for those behind the farm gate? increasing the value of food exports and There’s more talk of a farm mosaic cutting fertiliser imports at a time when compared with the current situation the country was already suffering the where 90% of total income is derived Covid-19 related collapse of the tourism through one product or channel such as sector. milk. Instead, yields of tea and rice rapidly “What could that look like by 2032? slumped and the country has quickly “Do we have the same number of swung from being a net exporter of cows on our farms? Are we ascribing products such as rice to becoming a more areas to crop and a different protein net importer as it fights to feed the revenue?” population. Technology such as Halter with its While it’s not the only factor in the ability to direct cows to different areas of country’s spiralling economic collapse the farm or areas within paddocks may and social unrest it has arguably played make such mosaics easier to manage.
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Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | August 2022
Consumer preferences around diet, animal health and welfare and environmental concerns all needed to be considered when challenging thinking on farm system design. “If we have a bucket of capital in our business – how are we going to allocate that capital to get a return? “Granted some of the money we are going to spend will be on our licence to operate our current systems but there are certainly going to be other things that will provide channels of new revenue. “We all need to be on the same page as to what that looks like and be confident the consumer will be willing to pay.” Farmers must also be the drivers of the strategies on how to get there.
REPORTS AND FURTHER READING The EAT-Lancet report: • eatforum.org/content/ uploads/2019/07/EATLancet_Commission_ Summary_Report.pdf Not everyone was happy with the report: • italiarappginevra.esteri. it/rappginevra/en/ ambasciata/news/dallambasciata/2019/03/ comunicato-stampa-sullancio-del.html Sri Lanka: • www.nytimes. com/2021/12/07/world/ asia/sri-lanka-organicfarming-fertilizer.html
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