He spent a year examining how farmers in the United States and Europe have responded to greater consumer-driven demands and a need for more inclusive solutions and bought home some recommendations, which he is starting to put into practice himself.
In exploring how innovation can deal with farming’s wicked problems of producing more food for more people off less land with a smaller environmental footprint Hocken said the traditional No 8 wire approach is now as unsuitable as more institutionalised, long-run research and development.
It’s a problem manifesting in continued low productivity growth inside the farm gate, particularly in the dairy sector, and the erosion of the sector’s right to farm, its social licence facing more scrutiny than ever.
The reliance on research that drives more protein from pastures and genetics has been outstanding but harder to maintain as a top-down innovation model because of the speed of technology advancement and the pull of consumer demands for transparency and sustainability.
“The lone researcher, institution or company is now at greater risk of missing the next big thing that could be an opportunity or could be a disruptive threat.
“Over time what we see is people, and consumers particularly, have been left out of the equation when it comes to innovation and planting that innovation in a social context is not something we have really done and that is just as we have about 80-plus percent of the population now urbanised and further than ever from those on the land.”
Hocken, a dairy farmer, found growers and farmers are missing from the innovation process as much as consumers and there is a need to collide ideas across disciplines rather than leaving them to ferment in a single silo of interest if they are to ultimately see the light of day as practical solutions.
“I think what we have now is a good strategy for New Zealand agriculture.
“It’s becoming clearer, the direction is good but the bit missing is how we can create the platform for groups to innovate, to get past that first creative frontier to the next practical frontier.”
While innovation centres dot university campuses and outskirts of most major centres in NZ he maintains farmers and growers are still the key component missing from most and having them at the front of the problems these centres are addressing will help speed up the process with shorter runs between conception and usable solution.
Hocken visited a number of innovation groups. In Holland he visited a university group employing a process called reflexive interactive design, recognising sustainable farm systems require not only technical innovation but also social buy-in capturing all groups engaged with farming.
Putting farmers at the start of the process means farmers are requested to submit even the most absurd looking ideas for solving problems and should be prepared to undergo a grilling on how and why they are offering the solutions.
An example is taking farmers to a zoo to observe how a zoo deals with challenges of effluent, animal welfare and public perception.
“A key part of the process is to connect producers with consumers and understanding what consumers want.”
He agrees the investment in sending NZ farmers, so disconnected by distance and sometimes product type, to supermarkets abroad could be one type of investment worth making for the same reasons.
And the onus is on farmers as much as institutions to come to the party.
“We are not encumbered by subsidies and support so, as a group, we do have farmers that are very innovative and entrepreneurial so farmers need to step up too. They have to be open to trials, to having new, innovative approaches and be prepared that someone is likely to want to collect a whole lot of data on them and the process. Then they let that happen.”
Hocken’s recommendations for a more fostering innovation ecosystem in NZ seek a more spontaneous, informal and inclusive approach.
He cites a European Union example where the phone-book sized application for innovation grants was removed and instead a Dragon’s Den style application process was developed, becoming far more accessible to millennial innovators and entrepreneurs.
In trying to walk the talk Hocken has helped establish a collaborative innovation network in Manawatu.
Comprising like-minded farmers hungry for change and innovation, the group includes SPROUT agri-tech staff, Massey University researchers, Microsoft and staff from the regional development group, all examining five different wicked problems including water quality and emissions.
“The idea has been bubbling away for three years or so but there has been some push-pull from the Nuffield work for doing this.”
