Every sheep and beef farmer should visit the overseas markets where New Zealand sells its meat, says Wairarapa farmer Mark Guscott.
The Martinborough sheep, beef and cropping farmer and tourism operator told the recent Red Meat Sector Conference that while this is not possible for everyone, a market visit he made with his processor, Atkins Ranch, revealed just how small the NZ meat industry is and how competitive supermarket chiller cabinets are.
Guscott was participating in a farmer panel titled Farming for Customers of the Future, along with Allan and Jo Johnstone from Wallace Johnstone near Te Kuiti and Jason Miller from Roslyn Downs in Southland.
Guscott, who runs Glen Eden Farms, said he becomes a supermarket junkie when overseas.
“I find it fascinating how people are manipulated into buying stuff and where products are placed on shelves.”
All three farmers said respecting previous generations of farm owners but planning for current and future generations drives their decision making.
Guscott has adopted regenerative farming principals but said the biggest reward has been to his thinking, giving him the courage to try different management strategies, some which have worked but others that have not or are before their time.
Miller said adopting the Farm Assurance Programme-plus (FAP+) has given his business surety, while auditing gives him confidence.
“It allows me to sleep because I know our farming system is sustainable.”
He decided to apply for FAP+ accreditation because he saw customers were wanting assurance their food was sustainably grown.
He said compliance gives him “a ticket to the game”, the chance to supply top-tier consumers.
It required 30km of riparian fencing on his farm but as a consequence water quality has improved, evident by regular tests.
The Johnstone family are part of Silver Fern Farms Net Carbon Zero programme, where carbon sequestered areas of native bush on supplier’s farmland are bought by the processor to offset the carbon footprint of red meat.
Allen Johnstone said NZ meat occupies a tiny area in supermarkets and needs to be differentiated to be noticed.
The three farmers have changed their businesses and are open to further change.
Guscott has diversified into irrigation, which allowed the inclusion of cropping, and then into tourism.
He remains open to new ideas – “We wonder what will be next.”
Where once Roslyn Downs was all sheep, Miller said they now contribute half the business with the other half dairy and dairy support.
This has lessened the risk and allowed family to be involved in the business.
“There are solutions to all problems, it’s a matter of whether it is technology or learning another way to do something.”
The Johnstone family has also changed, removing breeding cows and replacing them with trading cattle to reduce damage to their hill country.
Jo Johnstone is involved in the Growing Future Farmers programme, exposing her to young farmers, which excites and encourages her about the future of the sector.
“Young people are energising.”
Roslyn Downs was this year’s Southland winner of the Balance Farm Environment Awards and Miller said such was the positive experience, he encourages everyone to enter.
Miller said the aim of any initiative has to be growing value back at the farm level, and one option could be for the government to be more flexible when negotiating trade agreements.
Instead of aiming for a full and comprehensive free trade agreement, he said, a partial agreement could be valuable for individual sectors.
That could apply with India, where meat could benefit from easier access, but the inclusion of dairy could be problematic for a comprehensive free trade agreement.
“If we don’t get more value back to the farm level, then we will not have young people coming into the industry.”
