New Zealand government helps UK farmers with industry changes

A campaign has launched by a New Zealand government agency focused on helping British farmers navigate changes to the way the industry is funded.

The agency, responsible for promoting economic development and trade, said it was looking to help UK farmers transition to environmentally-based support payments.

The New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE) has released five guides covering topics including dairying, animal health and genetics, farm business management, livestock management and pasture and machinery.

The reports provide advice on how to build efficiency and resilience into a farm, information on the latest tech and case studies to demonstrate how these innovations are making a difference.

Trade commissioner for NZTE, Joe Nelson, said the guides had been created to help British farmers get an understanding of the agri-tech routinely in use in New Zealand and how these could drive profitability.

Mr Nelson said: “With the transition from BPS to environmentally-led support payments, it is likely British farmers are going to need to take significant strides in becoming more efficient and more profitable.

“In many cases, this will require a much greater adoption of technology, both on farm and in the management of the business.

“Thankfully, however, a major precedent already exists that demonstrates life after subsidies is not only possible to achieve but can actually help farm businesses to become more successful, profitable and sustainable.”

He said this was the story of New Zealand agriculture, which receives no government funding at all, yet was 'buoyant, successful, and efficient', as well as one of the largest exporters of agricultural products in the world.

“In producing these guides, we are providing an in-depth look at the types of technologies that have been used to achieve this and how relevant they are to what is happening in the UK right now,” Mr Nelson added.

“Hopefully, they will give UK farmers a sense of what is possible and how technology can really transform a farm business.”

Brendan O’Connell, chief executive of Agritech New Zealand, said farmer mindset was an important factor in adopting new technologies on farm.

He explained that this could be one area where UK farmers could learn from their counterparts down under.

“Farmers in New Zealand have a very pragmatic attitude. They have a high tolerance to try something new if it will make their business more productive and profitable,” he said.

“The first 12 – 15% to adopt it are the trail blazers, but after that we have what we call the 'persuadables'. These represent 30 – 40% of the market.

"They’re very open to tech if it is fit for purpose and once they see something works, they’ll invest.”

FarmingUK