DAIRY NEWS NOVEMBER 14, 2017
NEWS // 9
DairyNZ delivering the goods “When I was interested in finding out about once-a-day dairy farming there was peterb@ruralnews.co.nz a wonderful set of discussion groups on OAD. “If something takes your interest and HIGH PRAISE for the help DairyNZ proyou want information, DairyNZ is likely vides to its levy payers. It came at the annual Grasslands Asso- to have it and it’s accessible on their webciation conference in Whangaui where a site. Research is valuable and it’s a great credit to the dairy indusleading dairy farmer in the try.... Sometimes we farmdistrict, David Pearce, sang ers take it for granted but the praises of DairyNZ to the value is huge,” he says. 300 attendees. The lack of indepenHe says DairyNZ has a dent advice since MAF’s complete package of unbidemise is a problem, ased advice for its dairy Pearce says. He recalls a farmers, and he notes fertiliser rep trying to perthat this service resemsuade him not to buy a bles what the former Mincheaper product. istry of Agriculture did in Farmers should analthe 1980s before the poliFarmer David Pearce. yse the advice they get and ticians dismembered it. “The government of the day did agri- work out what might be missing, he says. culture a huge disservice when it broke They should note who is sponsoring an up the department. When this happened event and be aware that any advice may their advisors largely went out and worked be leading to a commercial opportunity as independent consultants and took the for such a sponsor. Pearce notes a lack of funding for the ethos of the department with them. “Now they are retiring and those of us science of grazing management. Much who are sheep and beef farmers are bereft of the research into this is being done on good quality land on research farms, of good independent advice,” he says. Pearce says that of the levy-based whereas he believes it should be done on farmer organisations, only DairyNZ has second-class land where the biggest gains tried to replace what MAF was. He cal- could be made. “The amount of research done on secculates that for every cow on his farm he pays about $13.70 to DairyNZ via its ond-class land is pitiful,” he says. He adds that pasture management levy, in return getting back real value for research is a long term project. money. PETER BURKE
PRAISES FROM GRASSLANDS HEAD THE PRESIDENT of the strong for several Grasslands Associareasons: its ownership tion, Dr David Stevens, structure, where everyalso lauded the dairy one wants to achieve; industry for its support [Fonterra], for which structure for its levy most are working in a paying common purfarmers. pose that helps He told engender the Dairy News sense of comthat the munity; and the dairy invery structure of dustry has DairyNZ, which always had itself supports a strong that commuDavid Stevens sense of nity.” community with strong Stevens says the links between scienGrasslands Associatists and farmers. tion has a long history Stevens says the of linking science with discussion groups farming and agribusirun by DairyNZ link it ness is now recognised directly to its farmas sitting somewhere ers, and issues can be in the middle. quickly raised with sciThe Grasslands entists as in the former membership (900) is MAF days. still strong and they “The community in want to continue to dairy has always been build links and fill
the void left by the dismembering of MAF. Much more progress was made under MAF, compared with the patchwork approach now taken by government to funding science in agriculture. Stevens says the dairy industry’s approach to funding research is an excellent model. “Its levy is based on a cents/kgMS which means that the more successful the dairy industry is at producing milk, the more money there is available for research.” Stevens admires the dairy industry’s investment in the whole forage area and in the persistence of grass species, all of benefit to farmers.