Jeanette Maxwell: Federated Farmers 2013 Meat & Fibre Counci

21 November 2013

Time and tide waits for no man or woman for that matter

Keynote speech by Jeanette Maxwell, Federated Farmers Meat & Fibre Chairperson, to Federated Farmers 2013 Meat & Fibre Council, Federated Farmers, Wellington.

Recently I had the opportunity to travel to Zambia for the inaugural World Farming Organisation Women’s committee meeting, the international day of Rural Women and the Zambian National Farmers Union conference.

This has much resonance for the issues we will be discussing over the next two days.

Travelling to a country like Zambia gave me an opportunity to see how farmers do business in a developing nation. A working farm there can be anything from 10 hectares to many thousands of hectares.

In Zambia I found that 62 percent of all farmers are women. Women also make up a large share of the labour force and much of the weeding and crop maintenance is done by women.

For many farmers the land is transferred by succession and while there are opportunities to buy land you do need to know the right people. In Zambia, succession is seen as being critical for the continuation of farming and for feeding the nation. Sounds familiar.

But one of the major issues for farming in Zambia is that you can buy, pay for and own a farm without necessarily having title for the land. It’s not as if they don’t want the deed, it’s just that getting the land surveyed is difficult and even after this is done, it can take the government up to three years to approve the title.

This really hamstrings farmers. Without a land title they cannot secure a bank loan to invest into the farm’s infrastructure. This includes the electric security fencing to protect your farm enterprise from marauders that may be human or being Zambia, an elephant.

Properties with irrigation ranged from a simple as pipeline system with sprinkling heads to large scale centre pivots and everything in between

Our group visited three farms that were owned and run by women. All of these women had had careers away from farming but with the passing of their mothers, had returned to the family farm.

I can go into more detail because to me it was an education in how different but familiar the issues are.

All of the farms we visited had outstanding cellphone coverage and given that many farmers live in basic housing with very basic, if any, electricity and water, this was surprising. The cellphone coverage was way better than on my farm and accords with what my colleague, Willy Leferink, found in Vietnam.

This got me thinking hard about New Zealand and the rhetoric we get from politicians trying to secure our votes.

While food security is of vital importance in Zambia a resolvable impediment which land title is, would make so much difference if accorded a higher policy priority.

In New Zealand, I guess, we face similar issues. There are plenty of things in policy and in our industry structures that deserve greater attention from our political leaders and the mainstream media.

What we get instead is the Auckland Convention Centre Ad nauseam or some other beltway issue of the moment.

Rural issues are of vital economic, social and environmental importance yet are accorded a low priority by the mainstream media. That is until a day like today, where Dr Jan Wright has released her findings on water quality.

It seems we get coverage when things go wrong, like in China with meat, the closure of Shannon’s fellmongery and of course, the worst drought in 70-years to hit the North Island.

But if the ratings of Country Calendar is anything to go by, the general public have a strong interest in matters rural. My plea to the mainstream media is to be alert to this and to accord a greater priority to report what is happening in the rural sector as it goes to the heart of the New Zealand economy and our identity as a people.

My visit to Zambia, while part of the World Farmers Organisation, gave me a hint to the potential agricultural diplomacy opens up for New Zealand.

Despite difficult hurdles the women farmers I met continue to work with the Zambian National Farmers Union to adopt new and better farming processes, to secure finance, to look for and adopt new technologies and to take on board new ways to improve farm profitability.

This is where New Zealand can play a role in helping these countries to improve. In doing so this creates opportunities for New Zealand to become part of their farm system. Some say we ought to be the ‘Rolls-Royce’ of global food production but I would much rather prefer we become an ‘Audi’ instead.

All the woman I met were highly determined to carry on so that the next generation will have a viable and vibrant future.

Sounds like us and why we are here today.

While in New Zealand we don’t have to face those same hurdles to farm, we do have our hurdles nonetheless. We know that there are areas of our farming practices that are changing as requirements drive that change.

We also know that the average age of the Kiwi farmer is 58 years and in the sheep and beef sector, we need to look at how to encourage and help the next generation of farmers.

While succession is one way with some help, there is another and that is to take a leaf from sharemilking to introduce sharefarming. Federated Farmers has a statutory role under the Sharemilking Agreements Act and a wealth of experience in all that entails.

Sharefarming could allow a younger farmer to grow their equity through stock ownership in much the same way sharemilkers progress from lower order, to 50/50 and then onto full farm ownership or into an equity partnership. This allows the retiring farmer to have some equity to grow their retirement fund or to exit the industry.

This would also help as we look to the future of our sector as we wonder what is around the corner for us.

A younger more focussed generation that needs and wants the best, that has the drive and passion to help deliver change as they see their whole future in front of them, rather than waiting for retirement.

There is always change but in today’s world, it is the rate of change and what is required to keep up, which drives the need for a connected farm community with technologically aware farmers. The techno age is just part of what is required to be a successful farmer today.

The other is the type of technology which gave me great reception in Zambia but not on my farm in Canterbury.

Earlier this year, the Federation conducted a farmer behaviour survey so that we could look at how farmers do business and this attracted 865 respondents. This survey was presented at the June conference in Ashburton in a closed session.

From this survey we wanted to assess how farmers conduct business in terms of trade so that, going forward, we would have a better understanding of what it might take to see change within the meat industry.

We know from the survey that 85 percent of farmers are loyal to people and companies. We also know that 71 percent of farmers see ‘outside the farmgate’ issues as being important.

Perhaps to the disappointment of the farming media I will not disclose in this speech what our view on the meat industry ought to be. Yet.

What I can say is that this Council meeting is focused on developing Federated Farmers position with the assistance of an internal Meat Industry Options paper. We are looking at how, as farmers, we can progress this into the future.

My sincere hope is that we will have an indication on the direction we could take by Friday because our $6.5 billion export industry for red meat, wool and hides is too big to remain the ‘C student’.

Yet in many ways though we are farming with one arm tied behind our back.

In Zambia, no matter what the farm system, dairy, meat or vegetable, irrigation water was fundamental. Some of the scenes I saw were heart breaking; one farmer drove 10 kilometres to get water for her crops when a two kilometre pipe would provide water on tap for efficient irrigation.

I wish to be crystal clear. Where water flows, life grows.

We have the means to store water but the policy will is lacking just like in Zambia. Instead, have allowed the water storage discussion to become bogged down in terms of dairy, pollution or bust. That is wrong.

Water is vital to the renaissance of meat and fibre farming and for regional economic development.

In many ways water is the key that unlocks meat industry reform, greater on-farm profitability, farm succession and better environmental performance.

Right now, in many meat and fibre areas, farmers cannot plan season to season being hostages to a climatic lottery ticket.

It means we cannot choose when we send stock for processing. We cannot optimise the value of our stock or finish them at a time of our choosing. Right now, Northland is dry and the Waikato is at alert level one.

Why do we keep repeating this cycle? Why do we keep going around in circles when New Zealand receives about 2.4 times the amount of rain per square kilometre than what falls in the United Kingdom. We also get an amazing 4.5 times the rain per square kilometre than what falls over the Tasman.

The lack of water directly affects the way our processors are configured too.

Water storage changes all of this by allowing farms to irrigate areas of pasture to create pasture factories. This enables us to plan and to invest in our farms with a certainty we do not have today. Water is integral to the future of a successful meat and fibre sector.

It is also vital for environmental performance too.

Barren wind swept hills and pasture means we lose nutrients and soil to water whereas water enables pasture to flourish. With that and better returns we can further invest in the farm environment to also control plant and animal pests, benefiting everyone, everywhere.

Water storage, hand-in-hand with wider industry reform, is vital if we are to double our exports by 2025 and especially the contribution from the red-meat sector and wool fibre.

With relation to that, we are launching at this Council “Keep Calm & Shear On” to prevent the very preventable contamination of our quality wool fibre.

This poster is for farmers to download, print, laminate and hand out to anyone in the wool shed.

Just like the Zambian women farmers I met, we need to jump the hurdles and move forward but unlike our Zambian colleagues, we need to work together to create the change and enhance the opportunities as they come along.

Doing what we do better, improving quality in areas we can control, embracing new technology and reshaping how we attract people into our industry, is how we can make the most of our opportunities.

You may recall at our AGM in Ashburton that I raised the New Zealand Lamb Cooperative website. How it felt like it had not been touched for years and was hardly an inspiring shop window for what we produce.

It has taken some time but I am pleased to say the North American site now says “Is Under Construction”.

So there is hope our processors are taking what Federated Farmers is saying on-board. There is hope their focus is looking towards making the most of the markets we sell into.

Over the next two days we will be discussing the in-depth the environment and our farms, health and safety and the meat industry options paper to name a few topics. This is your time so together let’s take a step towards a viable, vibrant future with you and those you know around you.

Time and tide waits for no man or woman so be part of the sea-change.

Thank you.

ENDS

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