Friday, March 29, 2024

Forum focus on sustainable farming

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Resilience, being proactive and working together were some of the key messages at the eighth DairyNZ Environment Leaders’ Forum held in Wellington in December.
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The 54 farmers from around New Zealand who took part, representing a range of ages, skills and experiences, received the messages with optimism and a drive to engage. Industry leaders were invited to gather and share ideas, develop leadership skills and create action plans to help promote sustainable and profitable dairy farming.

All conversations converged to a core of sustainability, which was defined as being much more than simply nutrient loss and climate change.

Everything from working conditions for staff, education levels, international market conditions, management structures, cross-industry interaction, alternative product streams and alternative farming methods were discussed in the context of how they would affect the ability of the dairy industry to survive and thrive.

Even news of drops in the dairy payout forecast couldn’t dampen the mood. The discussion quickly jumped to how dairy farmers could cope with payout volatility and how they could look after themselves and others in their community in times of financial stress.

Martin Bennett, chairman of the Dairy Environment Leaders’ Forum, was looking forward to the future of the initiative, which aims to get 1000 farmers through the forum. His hope was that those 1000 alumni spread across the country could each directly engage with 10 other farmers in their communities, effectively having a network that reached all dairy farmers.

Bennett hoped this network would be able to drive a cohesive and collaborative pan-industry effort towards sustainable outcomes while allowing the dairy industry to remain competitive and profitable.

With the spread of skills and experience among those at the forum, farmers who were keen to get involved in the process of improving environmental performance in the dairy industry should be able to find someone in their area who could connect them with people who could help.

James Stewart, a Manawatu dairy farmer and Federated Farmers provincial president, said one of the main messages he took from the forum was the impetus to collaborate and engage with local communities with regards to environmental stewardship. He said farmers needed to acknowledge that it was not just an issue for them, and unless they led the process for change, the industry would end up regulated in ways that may not be practical or affordable.

“Farmers have always been doers. Talk is cheap, but we need to start making the changes so that all farmers have an answer to questions about what we are doing to improve environmental performance.”

He said every generation of farmers had to overcome challenges, from refrigeration to the removal of subsidies, and it was this generation’s turn to overcome the challenge of sustainability.

Stewart pointed to statistics around environmental performance such as the near-elimination of point-source discharges on dairy farms.

“Why aren’t we talking about that? Why aren’t we celebrating that?”

He said education through communities would lead to a widespread consensus that dairy in NZ would be viewed as a credible industry that was taking responsibility.

“We’ve become very good livestock and pasture managers and environmental management will just become another thing that we are good at doing.”

Ruth Prankerd – part of the South Taranaki sharemilking business that won the Ahuwhenua Trophy last year and a Ballance fertiliser adviser – said the forum had inspired her to drive positive change in the industry and it stood out among the industry events she had participated in. She wanted not just to help farmers come up with nutrient management plans, but also enhance their understanding of nutrients so they could better improve their systems.

She and husband Michael were already looking forward to becoming involved with a new catchment group. The opportunity to meet with last year’s alumni left her with “no opportunity to be coy” and encouraged her to fully take part in the event, maximising the benefit.

Prankerd identified collaboration as a key message and said the dairy sector needed to engage with as many other sectors as possible because isolation would only hinder progress.

She said the forum also highlighted the potential role of social media in integrating understanding between regions on all aspects of farming, particularly when environmental regulations were at different stages of progress across the country. Before a shift to Southland at the end of the current dairy season, she had already made contacts in the region and gained valuable knowledge about the differences in environmental issues and regulations.

A quote from forum presenter and constitutional lawyer Mai Chen – “Before you can influence others to change, you need to inspire yourself to change” – particularly resonated with Prankerd. As a consequence, she is focused on being more proactive with her professional development and community engagement.

Sharing gets results

Many leaders from both the dairy sector and other New Zealand industries delivered presentations and workshops at the DairyNZ Environment Leaders’ Forum, sharing their experiences and offering ways for farmers to create a culture of sustainability through the industry.

Speakers at the event included Tatua chairman Stephen Allen, lawyer Mai Chen, Minister for Primary Industries Nathan Guy, clinical psychologist and television personality Nigel Latta, and 2014 New Zealand Entrepreneur of the Year Daniel Radcliffe (International Volunteer HQ). Several successful farmers, chief executives, chairpeople, Members of Parliament and industry representatives also spoke.

This was the first year where previous participants were invited back as alumni, giving the new group an opportunity to meet with people who had already been through the programme to gain ideas and inspiration.

A progress check among alumni suggested they had achieved a lot more in their communities in the past year than they felt they would have had they not been part of the forum.

As well as presentations and workshops, the group visited Parliament and met with MPs from across the political spectrum to discuss sustainability and dairy farming.

The final day of the three-day forum had participants applying themselves to case studies of catchment-based environmental management, from examples of deteriorated catchments in crisis to proactive preservation strategies.

Eight industry leaders joined for small group sessions where attendees were given free rein to ask questions about their progression and current roles.

To conclude the forum, all participants committed to individual action plans of how they would further their involvement in promoting sustainable dairying.

Tony Kuriger and his wife Zoe are equity partners and sharemilkers of 1450 cows in the Tararua district. Tony took part in the 2014 Dairy Environment Leaders’ Forum.

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