Friday, March 29, 2024

Small levy rise has big aims

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A increased levy on grain and seed crops is necessary to meet the industry’s future needs, Foundation for Arable Research chairman David Birkett says.
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The 0.1% increase would take effect from January 1 and while small would bolster resources to meet grower demand.

Birkett said it came back to the right to farm.

“We have responded to grower concerns around the three main areas that put pressure on the arable industry,” he said.

They were biosecurity, the environment and new crops.

Growers considered them as vital to the future of their arable industry.

The board’s decision to increase the levy was not taken lightly but was necessary if FAR was to meet the industry’s evolving needs.

“We accept it’s another cost to the system but growers see the increased levy as maintaining a right to farm.”

Biosecurity was of much greater concern and much higher risk than funding extra resources to mitigate risk, Birkett said.

It was the first change in levy for 10 years with the last increase in 2006.

“Over the last year growers have consistently advised us that environmental compliance is the key challenge for their cropping enterprises.

“FAR has already invested significantly in a range of projects that provide tools to assist our growers comply and also provide accurate, up-to-date data to assist policymakers.”

The projects included a review of Overseer on cropping farms, research into nutrient management in cropping rotations, the development of a farm environment plan template for cropping enterprises and the further development of the online recording tool ProductionWise.

As regional councils introduced environmental compliance into their regional plans the need for more and better data was increasing and FAR must do more work to ensure regulation was based on sound research and growers would have access to the information they needed to comply, Birkett said.

“The recent biosecurity incursions, particularly velvetleaf and pea weevil, have also highlighted the urgent need for investment in new research to reduce the impact of incursions.

“This research could be on other crop options, management plans or on new techniques to detect weeds and pests.”

New crops were another area of recent focus. 

“The dairy downturn has highlighted the vulnerability of many cropping farms, which have relied on dairy farmers to buy their grain.

“New crops research will investigate a range of options for crop and end-user diversification by seeking opportunities for New Zealand farmers to grow new crops and look for new domestic and international markets for existing ones.”

Birkett said investing in the additional levy would enable FAR to better direct and leverage extra funds for national and regional projects with other sectors to get the best research outcomes in areas crucial for the arable industry.

While the levy for maize was on the seed planted, in all other crops the levy was associated with yield.

“So, accordingly, the levy increase in terms of dollars will vary from farm to farm,” Birkett said.

In each of the last two years FAR levy income was about $4 million. The increased would bring in an extra $300,000 to $400,000.

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