Beef + Lamb New Zealand has wrapped up its roadshow, with more than 400 farmers attending 30 meetings across the country.
BLNZ directors hit the road from July through to September to hear from farmers, in particular to test the organisation’s thinking on policy and deliver detail on its refreshed strategy.
Chair Kate Acland said discussion at the sessions was constructive with lots of good suggestions raised.
“I know things are busy on farm and I really appreciate farmers coming along to talk to us in person. As farmer-elected directors, we enjoy the opportunity to check in.”
There were some clear themes across the meetings.
“We wanted to give farmers some detail about BLNZ’s refreshed strategy, and to see if they felt we’d gotten the balance right.
“It appears the refreshed strategy was generally well received, and farmers particularly liked the focus on extension and on-farm profitability.
“Some even gave us ideas for how we can implement the strategy,” Acland said.
Addressing the organisation’s thinking on policy, there was generally good support for the policy positions tested.
Attendees were given information about BLNZ’s approach to National Bottom Lines for suspended fine sediment and E coli; positions on regulated freshwater farm plans; and initial climate change positions.
In the discussions on national bottom lines, clear themes came through, such as the importance of catchment-level involvement in setting water quality targets and having quality information to work with.
There was also a lot of helpful feedback on the risk-based approach to freshwater farm planning.
“Farmers provided thoughtful reasons for why they agreed or disagreed with positions, which helps BLNZ to further develop our policy positions.
“However, this is an ongoing process and there will be plenty of other opportunities for farmers to feed in as we further develop policy positions on these and other topics.
“We want to ensure the farmer voice is reflected in our advocacy.”
The next opportunity for in-person policy discussions will be at a series of workshops on climate change policy set down for October.
Overall, Acland said, from initial analysis of feedback, farmers strongly agreed the meetings provided enough opportunities for input and were a good use of their time.
“It’s great to hear farmers felt the meetings were worthwhile.
“I encourage farmers to talk to their local farmer director any time they have questions or concerns; contact details are available on our website.”
BLNZ staff are working through information gathered at the meetings and will provide a full report-back to farmers in the coming weeks.
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