Spend wisely to get through
Times are tough, says Kate Acland, but being prudent with spending will help farmers get through the hard times.
Every farmer is having a tough time right now. I see this in our Mt Some rs community, in MidCanterbury, and w he ni am out and about talking to farmers across the country. We’ve come off historically strong prices for our beef and lamb in our global markets, on-farm inflation remains high and the scale and pace of regulatory change area huge concern.
These weaker prices for beef and lamb directly impact not just the bottom line for farms, but also our wider community’s income. Like any household, we have to be prudent with our spending and ensure the farm business is resilient so we can navigate what looks to be a rocky period.
With the country facing these significant financial pressures, it’s more important than ever that government policy settings are fair and practical and lead to the right outcomes for farmers, rural communities and the environment. We will keep working hard on advocating for urgent changes.
With the current challenges we are facing, it’s critical that we keep investing in science, innovation and technology.
Through the 1960 sand1970s, the then government and the agricultural sector had the foresight to invest heavily in these fields to create tools to ensure we could improve our productivity and profitability.
This enabled New Zealand to rise through the period of deregulation and come out stronger and more profitable, due to efficiency and productivity gains – largely driven by good core science.
Wewill need similar levels of investment to see our sector through this current wave of change to ensure we still have a thriving sector and a strong broader economy.
There are some excellent scientists working throughout the country for the agricultural sector and the environment.
They have blazed a trail in innovation and we are the envy of the world. we should be holding these people up as heroes.
They can help us to mitigate the impact of changes beyond the farm gate and to prove to our markets that ours are among the lowest environmental footprints in the world.
We need to ensure we continue to invest in and value the work of our scientists, and to encourage successive governments to invest with a long-term view in this core science. That must include science education to make sure we have the best people coming through the pipeline.
The importance of science is why 40% of B+LNZ’S overall budget is focused on delivering tangible research outcomes –investing in projects to help lift farmers’ incomes – and getting tools and information into the hands of farmers.
B+LNZ’S research portfolio is diverse and includes programmes across animal health, productivity, genetics, environmental health, mitigations (greenhouse gas) and landscape management.
Sheep genetics is a good example of an area where the red meat sector has made significant productivity gains.
Our Sheep Central Progeny Test (CPT) is a long-standing and critical component of New Zealand’s sheep genetics system. We are six months into a two-year piece of key research around methane genetics.
We are now looking to taking the insights and lessons from the CPT and apply them to the beef industry.
The ground-breaking Informing New Zealand Beef programme aims to increase the uptake of the use of high-quality genetics in the sector.
We are also carrying out major work into Facial Eczema (FE) and parasites – applying new science to issues which have been consistent with long-standing problems for farmers and look likely to be increasingly problematic in the future with wider distribution of the disease and reduced options for treatment.
The recently completed Hill Country Futures programme has been focused on future proofing the profitability, sustainability and wellbeing of hill country farmers, their farm systems, the environment and rural communities.
This programme included an emphasis on forages and providing decision-making tools to help farmers select the best forage option for different land types and climate.
Continuing to invest in our sector is a non-negotiable if we are to remain worldleading protein producers and remain profitable.
We must explore new areas that have the potential to make a difference to our productivity, profitability and farming practices, and be open to including those technologies we’ve ruled out in the past – it’s time to have a conversation.
And we need to ensure that policy settings and the regulatory framework allow for innovation and the adoption of all the technologies available internationally that might help our farmers adapt in this uncertain future. ■
Kate Acland is the chairperson of Beef + Lamb New Zealand.