Bayden Barbour’s first meeting with his fellow B+LNZ directors was a workshop that also brought together board members from DairyNZ and Federated Farmers to look at a range of issues they have a shared interest in.
He says working together on mutual challenges makes sense, not only because it’s a more effective use of resources, but also because of the opportunities it provides to gain an appreciation of other views and approaches.
That includes complying with rules and regulations coming out of central government that increasingly require engagement with iwi and hapu right through legislation.
Barber, who is of Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāpuhi and Ngāi Tahu descent, has a 50ha block near Waimarama where he breeds Angus heifers and bulls.
A Hastings district councillor, he and his wife Myra run business consultancy Ipurangi Developments, while he is also chair of Waimarama Section 3 Block 2 Trust.
The trust looks after about 550ha of sheep and beef country, about half of which was planted in pines about 40 years ago because it was coastal land prone to erosion, while the remainder is beef country.
A trustee of Tiakitai Estate, which is leased to Horizon Farms, Barber is also a member of the NZ Institute of Directors.
He sees his new role as an opportunity to get involved and contribute at a boardroom level to a sector he says has traditionally been very important to New Zealand.
It’s an opportunity to put his skills and experience in governance and the Maori community to the benefit of the sheep and beef industry, while also being there to support Maori farmers and landowners.
He says although there are plenty of Maori farms, farmers and corporations in the primary sector, Maori have traditionally been under-represented on governance boards.
“There’s people at an operational level but not a governance level. I’d like to see more Maori stepping up into that space,” Barber said.
He says the different sector groups have plenty to gain by having Maori representatives at a boardroom level, whether that’s bringing a different perspective to issues such as the environment or providing a voice for iwi and hapu, who are an integral part of communities where a lot of land is farmed and leased.
He says there is enough Maori talent available to make a valuable contribution at that level, it’s just a matter of showing those people there is an opportunity and pathway for them to get involved.
As a member of the Hawke’s Bay Rural Advisory Group, he is primarily there both as a rural district councillor and to support Maori farmers through challenges like last year’s drought and covid-19.
During the drought that included providing a link between Maori farmers and iwi support groups, making sure people were aware of the wider networks available to help with solutions, including accessing feed for stock.
Barber chaired primary health organisation Health Hawke’s Bay for four years, stepping down from that role around the time when covid arrived, although he remains a director of the organisation, which has a mandate to support general practitioners from Wairoa, through to Napier and Hastings, and down to Central Hawke’s Bay.
That means making sure primary healthcare is delivered at the front line by supporting community practitioners.
He says it’s getting increasingly harder to recruit GPs, with many new doctors preferring hospital roles rather than being out in the community. When it comes to areas like Central Hawke’s Bay and Wairoa, the relative isolation makes that recruitment twice as hard.
Barber believes there is a lot to be gained by different groups working together for the benefit of farming and communities.
There is a project being initiated in Waimarama that involves multiple landowners, farmers and the marae to restore 11km of waterway.
He says opportunities like that, where the community, farmers and the marae can come together and work to achieve set outcomes that bring ecological, cultural and environmental benefits, are important. If jobs can be added to the mix there’s social benefits as well.
As for the future, Barber is looking forward to working with his fellow directors, with their next meeting, the B+LNZ annual meeting, in Invercargill on March 17.
He says the primary sector has some challenges facing it, especially around the environment and climate change, but he is optimistic it can get to where it needs to be.
That will mean looking at different ways of doing things, supporting research and development and leveraging technological innovations.
However, he says the sector is resilient and he thinks the outlook is positive.
