Time for sector to find united voice

Several organisations with an interest in the future of our agricultural sector have come out with strategies or visions for what needs to be done to find New Zealand’s place in the sun. One such report produced by the Primary Sector Council has been sponsored, one could say hijacked, by the government, and converted by MPI into a set of financial and environmental targets. Another is the result of independent research and consultation. Ideally either the government will engage with the primary sector to agree the best policy settings the industry believes necessary to meet these ambitious targets, rather than insisting on following the plan it commissioned to meet its own priorities.

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Regulation risks hindering innovation

The fast pace of regulatory change by the government poses a challenge for farmers trying to earn their social licence to operate.

 

The Emissions Trading Reform Bill and the proposed Essential Freshwater Policy are the two latest examples of regulation which are set to be introduced into law before the Election and will inevitably impose serious costs or penalties on farmers as currently drafted Some provisions run counter to good, common sense farming practices, and the ETR has the potential to side swipe the sheep and beef sector, as it incentivises the conversion of sheep and beef farms into forestry.

South Island farmers still being short-changed

When it comes to being paid for their livestock, South Island farmers appear to be earning considerably less for some species than their North Island counterparts. Trying to unpick the reasons for the differential is complicated by a number of factors, like traditional meat company secrecy, schedule price as distinct from premiums paid for volume supply, cooperative pool payments and loyalty rewards, shorter seasons, cartage, labour agreements and relative plant efficiencies.

Changing world will suit our red meat sector

When sheep and beef farmers are questioning whether they will ever receive the returns they need, there is potentially considerable hope for the future. The changing demographics and spheres of global influence indicate a substantial change in the relative economic power of the markets with which we trade.

Unlikely lower dairy payout will lead to immediate land use change

Previous downturns or relative changes in sector profitability have generally led to a change of land use; and because sheep farming was the predominant 20^th century rural activity, land use change was usually to a form of farming other than sheep.

Meat trade unrecognisable from 40 years ago

It is sometimes tempting to think nothing much has changed with meat exports in recent years when you read all the publicity about the problems in the meat industry. Since the beginning of this century the contrast with the dairy industry has been particularly marked, but suddenly this season the positions have been reversed. Sheep and beef farmers can hold their heads high again and it seems likely this state of affairs may even persist for longer than just this season.

MPI’s Farm Monitoring Report forecasts income drops for dairy and sheep and beef

MPI’s 2012 pastoral farm analyses, taken from the Farm Monitoring Report, show significant falls in income predicted for dairy, and sheep and beef, and an increase for deer farming.

The reports show typical income patterns based on information gathered from a representative sample of farm properties.