And rural communities are having to weather more storms, it seems. The quest for ever-increasing production from our farms is no longer being tolerated by New Zealanders or many of the consumers we hope to sell our food to. After years of
inaction, lawmakers have moved to put the brakes on by setting goals to reduce freshwater pollution, greenhouse gases and the loss of biodiversity.
Anyone who’s been reading both the aspirational goals of NZ’s primary industry bodies and international newspapers for the past 10 years will have seen this coming. The world wants sustainably produced food with a great story backing its
production and we want to sell it to them. Having the boxes ticked is the price of doing this business.
In times of change people are uncertain of the way forward and it is easy to find a villain. Many have found an easy target in the Government. But this evolution in our farming systems was happening before the last election and will continue after the
next. The real villain is that of uncertainty itself. To vanquish that villain we need assurance.
Take the Zero Carbon Bill as an example. Our industry worked with the Government to find a solution that puts farming in control of its destiny as it looks to reduce emissions. The bill sets concrete targets farmers can focus on. Let’s take that same
approach to the other challenges we face. By working together as a community, as an industry and as a nation we can navigate the storms thrown our way as people, as businesses and as an industry. If we work together, we’ll weather together.