Sustainability Archives | Rural Leaders

2024 Nuffield NZ Farming Scholarship reports.

Rural Leaders is pleased to be able to share the 2024 Nuffield Scholars’ Individual Research Reports.

Our four 2024 Scholars have undertaken research on a diverse range of topics, each addressing a topical and significant challenges in Food and Fibre, from sustainable land use to succession, and from the future of farming to genetic technology.

The Nuffield Scholarship is about impact – so, we hope you find these reports inspiring and thought-provoking.

We’d like to acknowledge those of you who have contributed your time and experience to the Scholars, a Nuffield Scholarship is after all, a team effort.

This year we have included a one-page summary of each report. You will find these short report summaries via the buttons below.

Carlos Bagrie – Beyond the farm gate: Rethinking New Zealand’s economic future.

Agriculture and tourism in New Zealand face growth limits, threatening export earnings. With global trade shifting and land constraints increasing, we must rethink NZ’s economic future; exploring high-value industries, supply chain control, and innovation.

It’s time to ask: what comes after agriculture and tourism to sustain long-term prosperity?

Rachel Baker – Coding for Change: Navigating adoption of gene editing in the New Zealand primary sector.

Gene editing in New Zealand’s primary sector offers opportunities to address climate change, sustainability, and productivity. Proposed legislation aims to align regulations with trading partners, balancing innovation with public trust.

Early engagement, investment in innovation, and leadership in regulatory frameworks are essential to enhance competitiveness and drive sector growth.

Jenna Smith – Changing the Bog-Standard: Repeatable solutions for Aotearoa’s Peatlands.

Occupying only 1% of Aotearoa’s land yet holding close to a fifth of the nation’s ecosystem carbon, New Zealand’s peatlands are indispensable but rapidly degrading. This report does not offer a silver bullet, but a new way of looking at what we’ve long called marginal land. It suggests that peatlands, when managed well, can be part of our productivity, our identity, and our climate response—not in spite of their wetness, but because of it.

Peter Templeton – Putting the Success back into Succession.

New Zealand’s farm succession faces challenges due to aging farmers, rising land prices, and financial barriers. The report explores alternative models like share-farming and equity partnerships, emphasising the need for early planning, government support, and industry leadership.

Innovative succession pathways are crucial for sustaining the agricultural sector’s future.

Reimagining Local Economies: How Small-scale Farming and Community-based Models can Build Climate Resilience.

Alison Bentley (Tikitere Farm and 2023 Kellogg Scholar) spoke yesterday at the event ‘Global and Local Approaches to Climate-Resilient Land Use: NZ’s Path Forward,’ at Lincoln University. Alison joined Angela Clifford (CEO, Eat New Zealand), in Session 2: Resilient Food Systems: Small-scale and Local?

As the effects of climate change and economic instability become harder to ignore, it’s clear that the current models of economics and land use are proving challenging. Enter Angela Clifford and Alison Bentley, two forward-thinkers who are shaking up how we think about local economies, food systems, and sustainable land use.

Their ideas offer an alternative vision for a future where community-based economies and small-scale farming can not only help us better contend with climate crises but could also transform the way we live, eat, and work.

The Missing Link: Community-Based Economies.

Angela Clifford, CEO of Eat New Zealand, has been championing the power of local economies for years. In her view, traditional economic models are overly focused on macro-level concerns like national GDP, and micro-level issues, like business profits. But there’s a massive gap in between: the community economy. This often-overlooked space is where, Clifford argues, the real power lies, particularly when it comes to addressing environmental and social challenges.

For Clifford, redefining economic success isn’t just about how much a country makes or how many businesses thrive. It’s about creating systems that prioritise sustainability, local self-reliance, and social equity.

But Clifford’s vision goes beyond just localising industry; she sees a radical rethinking of food systems as central to building climate resilience. Despite the growing urgency around food security and sustainability, little has been done to strengthen local food systems, she argues.

Small Farms: Big Impact.

Alison Bentley, a small-scale farmer from Tikitere Farm near Rotorua, is proving that small farms can be a game-changer for climate resilience. Through her research with the Kellogg Rural Leadership Programme, Bentley has been exploring the role of small-scale farming, especially on plots of 10 hectares or less, in building a more sustainable food system. Unlike larger scale commercial agriculture, which can depend on chemical-intensive practices, Bentley argues, small-scale farming often works in harmony with natural ecosystems, fostering biodiversity and improving land use resilience.

“An increase in scale is more of the same to gain efficiency, whereas an increase in scope can give us diversity and resilience”, Says Bentley. In other words, rather than always pushing farms to become bigger and more industrialised, we should be looking for ways to diversify farming practices to build long-term resilience. By aligning farming methods with the natural capabilities of the land, small-scale farms could deliver more sustainable and climate-resilient outcomes.

One of the key issues Bentley identifies is the underuse of “lifestyle blocks”, small rural properties that often sit idle or are used for residential purposes rather than food production. In New Zealand alone, there are 870,000ha in such blocks on productive land, with 140,000ha on prime land. And just 10% of this land is run by landowners serious about producing a primary income from their blocks. The other 90%, if managed properly, could become a vital resource in strengthening local food systems and reducing reliance on large-scale agricultural exports.

Bridging Urban and Rural Food Systems.

But there’s a catch: connecting these small-scale producers to urban markets. As cities grow and sprawl outwards, rural land gets encroached upon, and small farmers face significant challenges in accessing urban consumers who increasingly want locally grown, chemical-free food. Bentley’s Kellogg research highlights a growing demand for this kind of food, but there are major obstacles to getting it to the people who want it, infrastructure, limited market access, and high transaction costs are just some.

Still, Bentley is optimistic. There’s a clear market for sustainably grown local food, and consumers are often willing to pay a premium for it. What’s needed is a rethinking of food systems that can help small-scale farmers tap into that market while overcoming the logistical barriers that can stand in the way.

A New Economic Framework.

Both Clifford and Bentley advocate for a new economic framework that goes beyond GDP and focuses on values like environmental sustainability, local self-reliance, and social equity. Clifford believes that, in the face of climate change, it’s more important than ever to build local systems that can withstand global disruptions. For Bentley, small-scale farming offers a practical way to increase food security, reduce carbon footprints, and create stronger communities.

While neither discount the importance of New Zealand’s food and fibre exports to our economy, they both argue that we do need to think differently about how we use land and produce food.

A Path Forward: Empowering Communities, Supporting Small Farms.

Together, Clifford and Bentley make a compelling case for reimagining the future of food and land use. Their vision isn’t just about protecting the environment or boosting local economies, it’s about creating a more resilient, equitable society where both people and the planet can thrive.

They conclude by stating that by empowering small-scale farmers, supporting community-based economies, and rethinking how we use our land, we could build a future where local food systems play a central role in creating more sustainable and just communities. Food for thought.

You can read more on the subject in Alison Bentley’s 2023 Kellogg Report here.

Hamish Murray podcast - Building stronger on-farm teams

Hamish Murray: Building stronger on-farm teams by getting out of the way.

Executive summary

Aims and Objectives
The study examines how New Zealand’s agricultural sector can integrate business strategy, regenerative design, and sustainability legislation to create regenerative farm blueprints that enhance Freshwater Farm Plans. These blueprints aim to thoroughly evaluate environmental impacts and tailor practices to individual farmers’ strengths, promoting sustainable farming methods that preserve freshwater ecosystems and support long-term ecological health, economic viability, and social well-being.

Methodology
This study included a thorough literature review to provide context on sustainable farming practices. A survey with 22 long-answer questions was conducted, divided into seven sections targeting specific aspects of sustainable farming. Insights were gathered from 161 participants in agriculture and scientific fields. Thematic analysis techniques were employed to ensure validity and gain a detailed understanding of participants’ perspectives. The goal was to triangulate knowledge between farming professionals and literature, enabling a SWOT analysis for developing the Regenerative Farming Blueprint.

Key Findings
The thematic analysis revealed several critical themes, providing valuable insights into the study’s problem:

Regenerative Practices: Mentioned 280 times, these practices emphasise holistic management principles and adaptive strategies. Participants noted benefits such as improved soil health and biodiversity but highlighted challenges like financial barriers and resistance to change.

Soil and Water Management: With 1123 mentions, this category was most frequently discussed, underscoring its critical importance. Key themes included soil health, effective water management practices, integration strategies, and significant regulatory and resource challenges. This indicates the need for targeted support and resources to overcome these obstacles.

Biodiversity: This theme, highlighted by 720 mentions, underscores biodiversity’s essential role in ecological health and farm resilience. However, challenges such as cost constraints and a lack of awareness were noted, suggesting increased education and financial incentives were needed.

Legislation and Compliance: Mentioned 177 times; this reflects concerns about regulatory impacts and the necessity for better understanding and support for compliance. This indicates more explicit guidelines and support mechanisms to help farmers meet regulatory requirements.
These findings indicate that while adopting regenerative practices has significant benefits, it also presents considerable challenges that must be addressed through targeted support, education, and financial incentives.

Just some of the recommendations for Farmers

Identify Relevant Non-Financial KPIs: For comprehensive effectiveness, incorporate metrics like soil health, water usage efficiency, biodiversity, and carbon footprint into business planning.
Engage Advisory Support: Collaborate with trusted advisors to implement robust non-financial reporting systems tracking sustainability progress.
Provide Balanced Reporting: Include detailed non-financial reports, such as environmental impact assessments and sustainability audits, alongside financial results for a complete view of farm performance.

Just some of the recommendations for Stakeholders

Engage Early with Farmers: Proactively communicate about upcoming compliance requirements and provide clear, actionable guidance to ensure early engagement and buy-in.
Build Advisory Capability: Enhance advisors’ skills and knowledge through specialized training programs focused on regenerative farming techniques and sustainability practices.
Use Technology Effectively: Invest in advanced technology systems, such as precision agriculture tools and digital platforms, to simplify and streamline farmer reporting processes.

Richard Pedley

Emma Crutchley. Finding the sheep and beef value-add.

Emma Crutchley, 2018 Kellogg Scholar, talks to Bryan Gibson, Farmers Weekly managing editor about some of the challenges sheep and beef farming faces in a water-short region.

Emma discusses her Kellogg research, the Value Chain Innovation Programme, and the work being done on ‘Puketoi’ to find value-add.

Listen to Emma’s podcast here or read the transcript below.

Bryan Gibson – Managing Editor of Farmer’s Weekly.

Kia Ora, you’ve joined the Ideas That Grow podcast, brought to you by Rural Leaders. In this series, we’ll be drawing on insights from innovative rural leaders to help plant ideas that grow so our regions can flourish. Ideas that Grow is presented in association with Farmers Weekly.

My name is Bryan Gibson, Managing Editor of Farmers Weekly and this week, we are talking to Otago sheep and beef farmer, Emma Crutchley.

Bryan Gibson:
G’day, Emma. How’s it going?

Emma Crutchley, 2018 Kellogg Scholar, sheep, beef and arable farmer.
Good, thank you Bryan. How are you?

BG: Yeah, I’m really good. Yeah, so whereabouts in Otago are you?

EC: My husband, and I and two children live in a little inland basin called the Maniototo in Central Otago on a sheep, beef, and arable farm here called Puketoi.

BG: Sounds like a lot of work.

Maniototo sheep, beef and arable farming.

EC: Yep. So, I grew up here. My grandfather bought the farm in 1939, and we go a couple of more generations back here in the Maniototo. He’s one of the youngest sons, and he moved over from Kyeburn to Puketoi then.

I am an ’80s child, so I remember little bits of farming growing up through there. And I’m the youngest daughter out of…I’ve got an older brother. When I was younger, I had a love for animals and the farm and I could literally be found in any lamb pen, in any dog kennel, any filthy, smelly, or challenging job.

Growing up, I would be neck-deep in it. Mum and dad never really had a chance to get me out of it, and not that they ever thought that was a thing. They were very supportive of all their children, regardless of gender, being involved in the farm. I guess growing up here, I went away to boarding school and continued my love for the farm straight to Lincoln, and I never really looked anywhere else. From there, I moved on to work as a rural professional, as an agronomist, working in Christchurch for PGG Wrightson, and then later working for Pamu out of Wellington.

I knew I’d return home to the farm, but I was always a little bit hesitant because I love being around people and I love my networks and the social life side of it. I knew if I moved home, I was moving to a relatively isolated place away from a lot of the people that I really enjoyed being around.

I knew that it was the best opportunity I had and always something I really wanted to do. So I moved home in 2009, and imported a husband to the Maniototo, because it won’t come as a surprise, but being a small, rural community, everyone’s relatively related. I knew I had to find a husband before I moved home. So, yeah, he came home, and he moved here in 2010. And yeah, so we’ve worked to take over the family farm from my parents.

We’ve got just under 500 hectares of irrigation. The rainfall here is often what ‘wows’ people, it’s a 350ml rainfall. So irrigation creates the resilience we need to do what we do. We’re arable, so we grow about 100 hectares of arable crops: wheat, barley, peas, linseed, clover, rye for seed, and a few other bits-and-bobs as they come along.

We’ve got an angus stud as well. So we sell about 25 stud bulls each year. The main thing we do here, that is our main point of production, is our lambs. We have about six and a half thousand ewes. And apart from replacements, we finish all lambs born on the farm and also purchase more store lambs in January and carry them through as well to meet the demands of what we can produce and who we supply.

I do a lot in the advocacy space with Federated Farmers in Otago and also as a director for Irrigation New Zealand. My husband is very involved and he leads a lot of the rural fire stuff in this area. Being in a dry climate, it’s one of our challenges, I suppose.

BG: That sounds like a massive and diverse life you’ve got.

EC: Yeah, there’s a wee bit going on. They’ve got two kids of the mix, two, eight, and 10, so they keep us on our toes.

BG: Now, you mentioned the engagement with the Rural Leaders Programme was a Kellogg report, I think it was in 2018, that was on how to manage water efficiently and what that might mean. I guess it’s an issue that’s close to your home – and your heart. That’s why you took it on?

Kellogg research into water sharing in a water-short catchment.

EC: Well, as you know in 2017, one of the top election issues was around freshwater and how it’s managed in New Zealand. There was a lot of pressure around irrigation and the association with water quality and quantity. At that time, I was a director on our local irrigation company.

Being in this extreme climate where we are short growing season – long winters, and the value that irrigation is to our business in terms of the resilience and our adaption to climate change, I knew when I applied for the Kellogg Programme, exactly what I wanted to study in terms of a research project.

I’d been looking at it for a while, because the kids were, at the time, I think they were two and four, and at that time they’re starting to get a little bit more…I don’t know…I just went and did it!

So, my project was on water sharing in a water-short catchment, which was basically focusing in around, freshwater governance, or even crossing into environmental governance. I looked at different models from around the world and different examples of how water was managed, ownership rights, community management, and then investigated some of the policy settings we have. Also some of the solutions that might work in that space.

I think one of the learnings I got out of that was, as farmers in New Zealand we’re incredibly individualistic in how we run our businesses and that is a reflection of the challenges. The challenges we faced in the ’80s, we found ourselves then in that time of high interest rates and challenging Rogernomics type stuff. As individual farmers we had to farm our way out of it. We did that really, really well. But then that’s led us to being really innovative.

We need to understand the ‘why’ as to why the change is happening. I’m probably going a little bit off track here, but that project set the scene for me, for doing a lot of work over the last six years in the advocacy space and advocating for not only enabling farmers room to understand the ‘why’, but also those connections with stakeholders and the importance of that.

At the end of the day, the government calls the shots on policy, but the people that are voting for the government are our stakeholders, our New Zealand public, and the importance of understanding that dynamic for long-term goals rather than focusing on short-term advocacy outcomes.

BG: Yeah, I know you’ve done a lot of work. We had some stories in the newspaper this year on some of the work you’ve done to advocate for some changes to some of the water plans down your way?

Farming and the environment.

EC: I guess the thing that in Otago, we’ve worked first off the bat with land and water plans and regional policy statement, and I guess we’re also one of the most diverse regions in a Otago. For me, or for everyone really, farming systems in New Zealand are heavily intertwined with the environment. There’s always going to be public interest in farming because of our association with the environment that we farm in.

Everyone’s always looking over our fence. From that, it’s like, how do we set it up, so we enable farmers who are very good at change. So for that example, multiple challenges can be solved with one solution, and one challenge can be solved with multiple solutions. And what I mean by that is, how do you enable policy settings that enable this diverse, incredibly stunning region to actually find the scope within those policy settings to innovate around the challenge and to solve the different water quality, biodiversity, climate change challenges that we have faced.

I think advocacy is probably…I think it’s changing. We need to start learning. But it’s like communicating in a way which enables you to be understood. And my thoughts around that is we had in the Upper Taieri, one of our biggest challenges was the Upper Taieri plain and the diverse hydrology landscape that was tied up in the national wetland regulations. Then what that was the unintended consequence that that was going to create.

So, we had our big jobs for a nature project set up at that time, which involved the relationships with multiple stakeholders. I guess we always knew that if we were going to be successful in changing the settings around the wetland regulations that we needed to have a common ground with our stakeholders and what we were trying to achieve.

I know there’s a lot of narrative around, for example, the stock exclusion regulations and the huge cost they create on farmers. If you can flip that into, we need the tools in the toolbox to manage our environment, in a way that is best for the environment and best for our rural communities. We need to recognise the role that livestock can play within those systems to control our weeds and help with pest control. That was a common ground that we found.

So when we went to MFE with that case to Minister Parker, it was probably a more resonating message than just saying, ‘Oh, it’s a huge cost of fencing, and we’re going to lose all this land that we can graze’, which doesn’t resonate with everyone. They actually don’t care. They just want fresh water and they want a pristine environment. It’s explaining it in a way that actually identifies the unintended consequence of that.

So off the back of that, we managed to get that cut out of the stock exclusion rules, but it’s still a work in progress. We’ve still got to continue that conversation with our regional council as part of our water plan.

The art of making the tough conversations easier.

BG: Sounds like you’re at the forefront of a type of evolution that’s been talked quite a lot in terms of managing our natural assets – has many stakeholders who mostly want to do the same thing. It’s not an us and them farmers versus, say, fishermen or environmentalists or anything like that. And if you can in advance find those shared values, then it’s much more easy to overcome the challenge.

EC: Yeah, and I think I was talking to Julia Jones a couple of months ago and we’re brainstorming. I think she said something, and it was ‘we have a responsibility to seek to understand diverse perspectives’, then I added on the end, ‘we also need to give ourselves the personal freedom to change our minds’. I guess for me, that crosses into the fact that we are a small part of the population in New Zealand.

Like a lot of people like those in Auckland don’t really care about farming. They might want a pristine environment, but they don’t care about farmers as such. So the best way to get people to understand your perspectives is to actually listen to them and when you can create an environment which lets people feel like they’re understood – it takes away the defensiveness and the silos, and it creates more of a safe space to continue that conversation.

So when you’re really passionate, I think, and I have to be aware of this, because I’m really passionate about Ag and what we do, but passion can show up in many different ways. And when you’re passionate about a topic like farming or the environment and both, probably, most of the farmers fit into both those camps, but it’s like, how do you talk to someone and create that curiosity to let them feel like they’re heard? And then you create that connection and then that’s progress.

The Value Chain Innovation Programme and finding the value-add.

BG: Now, you’ve had a more recent Rural Leaders experience. You were on the Value Chain Innovation Programme this year. What was that all about?

EC: Yeah. So my lane, probably, in the past year has been a lot around the environmental stuff – freshwater, irrigation. But as a sheep and beef farmer, we are doing so much behind the farm gate in terms of how we farm and environmental gains on-farm. For us, because we are main point of production is lamb and finishing lambs, we’ve seen a lot of disruption within the supply chain over the past few years, especially since COVID.

Then we had another one more recently this year, where some of the guys we’ve worked really closely with over the past few years to develop our lamb supply programme. We went to them eight years ago, probably a little bit frustrated at the time, we wanted to supply a product that worked with our lamb, our supply chain, and what was actually needed within that, so we could add more value.

So they came back to us. We said to them, ‘how can we better support what you’re trying to do so we can add value to what we’re trying to do?’ They came back and they said, we need to know when your lambs are coming three to four months ahead. We need all year-round supply, and we need to have a consistent hook weight. And we went ‘righto’ and took that away. Then over the next few years, we worked really hard to actually schedule three to four months out and supply 11 to 12 months of the year and build a system around that, but then also target those specific hook rates and get it right. So, it worked really well.

Then when we had a bit of disruption within our meat company, probably three or four months ago, it blew a bit of that away. It blew away those trusted relationships, and it’s a bit of an ‘aha’ moment for me, and I realised how vulnerable we are to what happens in that supply chain and what we do. Because when your main part of your business is producing lambs and something happens in the supply chain, that’s a big issue.

I’d looked at the Value Chain Innovation Programme last year and I thought it was probably not really in my lane. And then I was like, well, actually, it really is in my lane, because if we’re doing all this other environmental stuff and trying to add value on-farm, we need a supply chain that actually supports what we’re trying to do.

So we, as farmers with our increasing costs, our sheep and beef farmers, especially the catchment limits that you’re trying to farm within, you can’t just produce your way out of it anymore. So, the real important thing that I’m seeing is, how can we value-add?

I applied for the Value Chain Innovation Programme with Hamish (Gow) and Phil (Morrison) to look at all the different value chain examples through the North Island. We got on a bus in Auckland and went down to Hamilton, explored the Fonterra markets with the Fonterra value chain around there, going to a dairy farm and then into the Fonterra factory, and also looking at LIC and DairyNZ and how those operations also support the dairy industry.

Then we investigated kiwifruit, and we also went to Robotics Plus in Tauranga. That was pretty amazing, seeing some of the tech that and the robots that they can pull in to support different production systems.

From there, we went down to Taupo and went to Pamu, and also sheep and beef there. I’m probably missing one, but over to Hawkes Bay to look at the apples as well, and also First Light Foods and a couple of others in there, just investigating what all these systems are trying to target. From there, I figured out that we are…yeah, I feel like we are lacking a little bit in leadership to support innovating the value chain to create value for what we do.

A lot of us are also limited in the land use change that we can actually do to add value. So it’s really important to me to start thinking about how we do add value through the supply chain.

BG: It seems to be like the Holy Grail. A lot of the feedback I get at the newspaper about various regulations and environmental and sustainable goals, people just go, well, we were promised it was value-add, and we’re not seeing it. We’re still slave to the schedule, that sort of thing. And so that’s a real hard nut to crack.

EC: And it’s never going to be easy. People will probably listen and say, she’s crazy. You can’t do that. But what options do we actually have in some cases? It’s like saying, well, okay, it’s hard, but what else are we going to do? Because in New Zealand, we’re actually not… I don’t know, we’re passionate about what we do, we have an amazing industry in sheep and beef.

I guess the other thing is we’ve also…when I think about, I’m very much Ag right through my life. Everything that I see as sheep and beef farmer supports what I can do behind the farm gate and creating efficiencies within the farm gate. There’s not a lot that actually looks at how we create value through the supply chain.

So I think that was probably a bit of an ‘aha’ for me throughout the (Value Chain Programme) trip, is actually realising that, yeah, we are actually stuck. There’s been amazing work done, but it’s like, how do we realise that, yes, a lot of what we do, even with our industry bodies, is focused on production, and behind the farm gate, but there’s not a lot on added value.

BG: Well, the cool thing is, I guess, that the product is amazing already, so it’s a good launching pad.

EC: Yeah, 100 %

BG: It sounds like your experience with Rural Leaders has been pretty rewarding. Is that something you’d recommend to others.

EC: Yeah, absolutely. I don’t know where we would be in New Zealand’s primary sector without Rural Leaders – there’s some great options of different programmes you can get involved with, and there’s always stuff to learn. I think even if I went back and did either of those courses again, you’d still pick up something new.

The people you meet along the way as well and I guess the networks. And I guess when I’m thinking about something and I know I don’t know the answer from those networks, I have a fairly good idea that I will know someone that will. And if they don’t, they’ll know someone that will. It’s a small, small place, the New Zealand primary sector, and there’s a lot of power and networks as well.

BG: Thanks for listening to Ideas that Grow, a Rural Leaders podcast in partnership with Massey and Lincoln Universities, AGMARDT, and FoodHQ. This podcast was presented by Farmers Weekly.

For more information on Rural Leaders, the Nuffield New Zealand Farming Scholarships, the Kellogg Rural Leadership Programme, or the Value Chain Innovation Programme, please visit ruralleaders.co.nz

Julia Galwey. By-product to buy product – Pearl Veal NZ.

An innovation story that covers the journey from an idea to the challenges of development, and to implementation. Julia Galwey, 2020 Kellogg Scholar, talks about Pearl Veal NZ, a new sustainable utilisation of the bobby calf resource.

Pearl Veal NZ was the winner of the Silver Fern Farms Market Leader Award at the 2023 Beef+LambNZ Awards in mid October.

Listen to Julia’s podcast here or read the transcript below.

Bryan Gibson – Managing Editor of Farmer’s Weekly.

My name is Bryan Gibson, Managing Editor of Farmers Weekly and this week I am talking to the recent winner of the Market Leader Award at the Beef and Lamb New Zealand Awards, Julia Galwey.

Bryan Gibson:
G’day Julia, how’s it going?

Julia Galwey, 2020 Kellogg Scholar and Co-Founder Pearl Veal:
Good, thank you Bryan. How are you?

BG: Pretty good, where are you calling from today?

JG: I am calling from my home office in Christchurch.

BG: Nice. Have you been getting all the wind we’ve been getting up here?

JG: Yeah, it’s been pretty mixed bag at the moment. Very much spring weather.

Winning at the Beef+LambNZ Awards.

BG: Yeah. Now, it was a pretty big time for you, the Beef and LambNZ Awards.

JG: Yeah, it was pretty neat for Pearl Veal to be recognised at such a wonderful event. Just have an evening of celebrating lots of positive things happening in the industry with the various finalists and category winners. A big thank you to Beef and LambNZ for hosting the event, and also to Silver Fern Farms for sponsoring the market leader category.

BG: Yeah. Now, can you just tell us a bit about your background in the food and fibre sector?

Background - Julia Galwey, 2020 Kellogg Scholar.

JG: Sure. I grew up on a sheep and beef and deer farm near Fairlie in South Canterbury. Then I headed off to Lincoln to do an Ag Science degree. Following that, I had six years in the agribusiness team for ANZCO Foods based in Ashburton, which was a neat team to be involved in, and a really varied role, that got me going in the meat industry.

Then in 2018, Alan McDermott and myself, we set up Agri-Food Strategy, which is our own agribusiness consultancy company. It focuses on working with farmers and agribusinesses to address strategic challenges and opportunities. I guess, again, it’s been pretty varied in terms of the work I’ve been involved with in that space.

BG: Now, you took on a Kellogg Scholarship in 2020, which, of course, was the year of the lockdown, if I remember correctly. You chose to do it on a value chain for veal. What made you think of that subject?

Kellogg research into the potential of the bobby calf resource.

JG: Good question. Yeah, I guess the idea to look at this for my report was just being around the meat industry and the bobby calf topic continues to come up in conversations. There just wasn’t really a lot of information that I could see here in New Zealand in terms of looking at older veal animals as an option for this resource, a by-product of the dairy industry. I didn’t really want to focus on the discussion or debate around the bobby calves themselves. I did for some context in my report, but I just wanted to focus on looking at one potential solution or opportunity for utilising some of that resource.

BG: Then, of course, it’s one thing to write a report about this stuff, but you carried that on and started a business. How did that get off the ground?

JG: I guess while I was doing my research report, there’s a few things that came up in terms of some learnings and drivers or motivators. One of them was probably around learning how much of a bigger risk the bobby calf thing was here in New Zealand. Especially compared to other countries in terms of the scale, with our couple of million versus Australia would be the next biggest, at around 400,000.

The report highlighted we were out there on our own in terms of how big of an issue it might be going forward. Some of that, was a bit of a driver. I learned a bit around the varying types of veal markets that there were internationally and saw some opportunity, but I really struggled to find any information on pasture-fed veal systems.

So, it became obvious that maybe there was an opportunity for New Zealand to diversify in terms of our offering in the veal space with what we’ve got here. Also, in terms of some of those credence attributes – pasture-fed, free-range, rather than copying some of the international veal systems.

From research to innovation.

As I was doing the report, Alan McDermott, who’s my business partner, was keen to have a go. We could test out what opportunity there really might be. I mean, it’s all very well, like you say, writing a report, but you just must have a go to see whether something might work or not. Halfway through my project, that’s what we started doing.

We had a quick brainstorm for a name so we could get a company set up. There are quite a few negative connotations around the name ‘veal’, which I learned a bit about while I was doing my report, in terms of some of the historic practices that used to happen in terms of how veal was raised internationally.

There was, I guess, some questions around whether we should even call it veal or not. But we talked to a few chefs, and they pointed out that we need to call it what it is. That’s what they know it is. A lot of them have trained internationally and used it before, so just stick with what it is, but make sure you build a story you can underpin your brand with. We sourced some under 12 months of age, a whole 12 of them, and found a processor that was happy to process them for us.

We set up cut specs and went along to the plant to see how it would go and then started sending some products to chefs to see what they thought. We had a development chef that we were introduced to through a contact, and he kindly took us around Wellington for a couple of days. He introduced us to a few chefs and helped us learn how that world works in terms of getting into restaurants and talking to chefs – and how to get on their menus.

Building scale.

The feedback on the product was great. We started working with the team at Synlait, including one of my fellow Kellogg cohort members, which was quite cool. They’ve been supportive in what we were trying to do and helped us connect with some of their dairy farm suppliers who were keen to give it a go and rear some calves. It’s been a nice fit for us to work with the Synlait team and some of their suppliers.

BG: How difficult is that process? You’ve got a prototype product and you’ve started with a small number of animals to begin with, then you’ve got to scale that up to something that’s a viable business. What’s the process there?

JG: It’s one of the trickier things to balance. It’s a bit of a chicken and egg in terms of you’re not quite sure in terms of what market you’ve got, but you need to get enough product that you’ve got enough to supply to a restaurant to put it on their menu. Yeah, it is a difficult balance, and some of that is just to take a risk. I guess for us, one of the things that we were quite focused on was building around the story and attributes we wanted to go around our brand. With some of that starting with animal welfare for us in producing the best calf possible.

The rearing regime and how it works.

There’s quite a lot of challenge in terms of veal as anything must be produced before the calf is 12-months old, so a lot of the challenge is around getting it to grow as fast as possible and to reach a heavy weight in that time. It needs a good start in life as a calf, to be able to do that. Some of our system was built around a particular rearing regime in terms of good colostrum.

Then we only use whole fresh milk rather than milk powder, which has had a lot of the good bits taken out of it. Milk is what’s designed for the calf, so let’s just give it that and obviously some pasture as well. But because of that rearing regime, we can’t just go out and get any calf on the market.

It starts right from the start in terms of what we’ve built to underpin our brand. That also is a little bit harder in terms of, like you say, we’re planning what we need over a year in advance, and you don’t necessarily know what your market is then. A bit of risk, I guess, and just a balance of starting smallish so that you learn the risks, learn the things you need to iron out as you go.

BG: Getting back to your rearing regime, that must mean you need to work pretty closely with the farmers who are actually doing this stuff?

Collaborating for success.

JG: Definitely. I think the other thing in that space is the Synlait farms that we’re working with are all certified ‘Lead with Pride’, which again, helps underpin animal welfare and the colostrum management. Obviously, our contracts have got the rearing regime outlined in them, and we talk them through what that looks like and why. We also don’t have meal as part of our rearing regime. Part of that is around wanting to remain grain-free, so 100% pasture-fed and antibiotic-free, so that we can look at going into the US market in time.

Again, it’s the whole fresh milk, no meal. It is a bit of a change to how calves are traditionally reared here. We’ve got to work closely with the farmers on what that looks like. We’re thankful for those first few farms that were willing to take a bit of a risk and rear and finish calves for us.

We were a couple of random people saying, here, we want to contract you to rear these calves in a particular way and finish them through to an age and weight that’s not traditional here. They had to trust a bit that we would take them when we said we would and have a processor to process them and pay them.

I guess that’s probably also part of what’s been quite helpful working within the Synlait team. That helped farmers have a go. There’s just some great farmers out there that are keen to try something different and learn with us, which has been nice.

BG: Yeah. Now, who are you selling to now? What are your export markets, or locally?

JG: Currently, we are pretty much mostly domestic market into high-end restaurants. We’ve just started doing a little bit into some smaller retailers here, and we’ve just started a little bit of export.

BG: Now, obviously, the bobby calf issue is one that New Zealand’s farming industry is grappling with. Do you see this type of initiative as part of a solution?

A new veal value chain.

JG: Yeah, I mean, the bobby calf issue is obviously a big social license to operate topic in the dairy industry, and it’s a pretty tricky thing to navigate with the views of community here and also our customers and consumers globally.

I guess we just have to keep asking ourselves if we’ve got practices that we’re comfortable and being transparent about, and if not, then what are our opportunities and solutions to do something differently? I guess that’s really what we’re trying to do with Pearl Veal is.

I don’t like to focus too much on the bobby calf aspect of it. But more the opportunity that exists to take some of that resource and add value to produce a really quality veal-based product with a story and a brand that’s underpinned by animal welfare standards and a pasture-based system that we believe in. We’re proud to share with chefs and customers and consumers here.

BG: Of course, back to where this all started, the Kellogg Programme – how did you find it? Is it something you’d recommend to others who were thinking about doing it?

The Kellogg Rural Leadership Programme - where it started.

JG: Yeah, absolutely. It was such a good course and I guess a real opportunity to network too. We had such a great cohort of people. It was a good cross-sector group of people. You get to meet people that you wouldn’t normally be working with and the people and the speakers that come in are incredible. It really broadens your thinking and opens your networks and I would highly recommend it to anyone considering it.

That’s why I did it. It’s something that once people have done it, they’re always recommending to anyone that hasn’t. If you get that opportunity, jump at it. I think it’s one of those things that probably never feels like the right time when you’re in your working career because you’re always busy or home life as well. You just have to jump in and do it.

BG: Thanks for listening to Ideas that Grow, a Rural Leaders podcast in partnership with Massey and Lincoln Universities, AGMARDT and FoodHQ. This podcast was presented by Farmers Weekly.

For more information on Rural Leaders, the Nuffield New Zealand Farming Scholarships, the Kellogg Rural Leadership Programme, or the Value Chain Innovation Programme, please visit ruralleaders.co.nz

Know Your Why – Motivations for a Sustainable Future.

Executive summary

With growing demands for sustainability in the food and fibre industries, there is mounting pressure from consumers to produce environmentally responsible products. This report addresses the necessity for the New Zealand dairy industry to prioritise climate change concerns and associated greenhouse gas emissions to secure a sustainable future.

The report aims to understand the motivations behind the adoption of new innovations by dairy farmers and learn how to accelerate the uptake of practices that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, thereby ensuring the long-term sustainability of farming in New Zealand. Additionally, the report aims to create a resource to inform government, industry bodies, and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) about alternative approaches to motivate farmers in reducing greenhouse gas emissions positively.

The research question guiding this study is: How can we motivate New Zealand dairy farmers to embrace practices that effectively reduce greenhouse gas emissions?

A literature review was conducted to gain insights into the significance of greenhouse gases in the New Zealand dairy industry. The review examined the impact and relevance of greenhouse gases within the New Zealand dairy industry. 23 semi-structured interviews were used to uncover the motivations that would drive New Zealand dairy farmers to adopt practices aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions on their farm. Responses were categorised into the following high-level themes:

• WHY (belief): Explored the aspects of purpose, motivation, social structure, and trust.
• HOW (actions): Focused on leadership, communication, and pathway implementation.
• WHAT (result): Addressed knowledge acquisition, problem definition, and barriers encountered.

Information gathered from the literature review and semi-structured interviews, highlighted the importance of understanding the “WHY” behind motivations and the utilisation of effective communication strategies (“HOW”) to drive the adoption of sustainable practices within the New Zealand dairy industry.

Recommendations:

Leverage the intrinsic values and purpose that farmers already possess. When developing GHG related communications to dairy farmers, industry partners should inspire farmers towards transformative change by building on farmers’ existing intrinsic values and encouraging mastery to drive toward continuous improvement.
Emphasise the importance of the economic benefits and social licence to operate. Milk processors need to communicate to farmers and rural professionals the potential advantages of being market leaders in greenhouse gas emissions reduction and the consequences of falling behind.
Create a single location for information regarding greenhouse gas related resources. Ministry for the Environment should provide and manage a resource location (i.e. website) for reputable GHG related literature, policies, regulations and general resources related to climate change specifically for the dairy sector.
Provide greenhouse gas emissions resources for veterinarians. New Zealand Veterinarian Association (NZVA) should curate a list of reputable sources of information regarding greenhouse gas emissions regulations, mitigation strategies, and the economic advantages of adopting practices that reduce GHG emissions. As a trusted source of information, veterinarians can disseminate this information to dairy farmers.

Tracey Reynolds

Lean on Me: The Effectiveness of Psychosocial Services Available to Farmers Following Adverse Events.

Executive summary

Climate change is increasing the frequency of climatic extremes. Accordingly rural psychosocial services must be prepared to support farmers in the face of increased adverse events. For those farmers most severely affected, the rural clinical mental health services which treat farmers are often underfunded, under resourced and difficult to access due to structural inequities.

New Zealand’s economy and wellbeing of its people are intricately linked to the success of the primary sector. Therefore, farmers’ psychosocial recovery after an adverse event is vital, not only for moral reasons, but sound economic reasons.

This project examines who the stakeholders are in the rural psychosocial ecosystem, how farmers interact with these stakeholders, and how these stakeholders in turn interact together. It aims to understand the challenges and constraints to delivery of effective psychosocial services, and solutions to overcome these challenges and constraints.

The key learnings of this project are:

Distant stakeholders who set policy and control funding are removed from rural communities’ needs and consequently, prioritisation and understanding of rural mental health suffer.
There is a lack of strategic direction and metrics in rural mental health, and specifically psychosocial recovery following adverse events. There is a dearth of data, duplication and confusion of roles, unsustainable funding models for psychosocial services and a stretched clinical mental health workforce. All of which contribute to a less effective service for farmers.
Psychosocial services need more support to develop and deliver their services.
There is currently no plan to address rural mental health clinical workforce issues.
In the absence of sector leadership, the government is currently leading the psychosocial response after adverse events which is leading to ineffective outcomes for farmers.

The recommendations from this project are:

Develop a long-term national strategy for rural mental health including psychosocial recovery following adverse events, led by the sector and its industry co-funded mental health champion/ chief executive (CE).
Establish a role within MPI’s Rural Communities’ office to advocate rural mental health and improve prioritisation of rural mental health.
Develop a rural pathway for clinical psychologists and psychiatrists with their respective registration bodies to bolster the rural mental health workforce, overseen by Ministry of Health and the sector’s mental health champion/ CE.
Fund and resource existing psychosocial services, such as Rural Support Trust, to attract and develop some in-house clinical expertise to lessen the burden on the rural clinical workforce.
Prioritise rural connectivity to enable technological solutions, with subsidisation for satellite connectivity.

Vanessa Thomson

Addressing Mortality in New Zealand Lambing Systems.

Executive summary

The New Zealand sheep industry has become increasingly productive in recent decades. This has been achieved primarily through the fecundity and improved feeding of modern sheep breeds. While impressive, this world-leading production has created unintended consequences in the form of excess mortality rates. This is most notable in triplet-bearing ewes, mated hoggets, their offspring, and all lambs in adverse weather conditions.

New Zealand farm systems have a reputation for being free-range and pasture-based. Currently, consumers are unaware of, or accept a certain level of death as a natural outcome of this free-range system. However, the industry must consider whether the increasingly conscientious customers and consumers will accept high mortality levels in sheep flocks, particularly if they understand the inflated death rates following storm events and the regular wastage in higher-risk animals.

This project explores how New Zealand sheep farmers can improve livestock survival during the lambing season. Information was gathered through literature reviews, 10 expert interviews, 10 farmer surveys and three case studies. Key findings were:

Death rates in triplet-bearing ewes and their lambs are significantly higher than in other stock classes and the majority of these deaths occur during the lambing period
Industry experts and farmers unanimously agreed that lamb mortality is a problem and needs to be addressed, but few have management solutions for triplets, and a portion of farmers actively ignore the issue
There is a minority of top-performing farmers with management plans in place who achieve far below industry-average death rates
For improved welfare, mated hoggets require intensive management through the lambing period
There is a lack of collaboration between government and industry in funding applied science and performance-based studies to innovate further solutions
Farmers believe Beef + Lamb NZ should increase investment in research and development and extension work
While there are no market signals that current wastage is an issue, there was unanimous agreement that it could be a trade barrier. Comparisons should be made to bobby calves and future legislation being superseded by industry requirements
To drive behaviour change and improved outcomes, a culture shift amongst farmers is required where animal welfare is viewed as paramount through the lambing season and high wastage rates are frowned upon and considered unacceptable by peers.

These key findings were evaluated and recommendations were made to the industry. These are summarised below:

1. Conduct market research to assess perceptions of wastage in NZ lambing systems and the risk this could pose in accessing premium markets.

2. Investigate and understand the extent of wastage in New Zealand lambing systems and subsequently innovate solutions to reduce mortality. The sector should increase investment in research and development and explore opportunities for collaboration between MPI and the science community.

3. Identify innovators who are achieving industry-leading survival rates, and analyse their systems to gauge financial implications and the potential for broader uptake.

4. Improve extension services with an increased focus on wastage. Teach best practice management and distribute new innovations. The rapid development of extension modules and ready-to-present workshops specifically focusing on improving survival are required.

5. Empower industry experts and incentivise further interaction with farmers to promote discussion and make this issue front of mind for farmers.

12.0 Recommendations for Industry, Pg 48 explores these recommendations in more detail.

Richard Dawkins

How Can Technology Help Achieve Sustainable Agriculture in New Zealand?

Executive summary

This report examines the potential of disruptive innovation and emerging technologies to enhance the sustainability and resilience of New Zealand’s sheep, beef, and dairy farming systems. It also explores the drivers, barriers, and impacts of technology adoption on farms. The report draws from peer-reviewed literature and semi-structured interviews with, industry representatives and scientists.

The main findings of the report are:

New Zealand’s agricultural sector faces significant challenges in reducing its environmental impact, especially in terms of greenhouse gas emissions and nitrate leaching, while maintaining its economic viability and social acceptability.
Disruptive innovation and emerging technologies can offer solutions to these challenges by improving farm productivity, efficiency, profitability, and environmental performance.
The adoption of these technologies is influenced by various factors, such as cost, risk, regulation, consumer preferences, social norms, knowledge, skills, and infrastructure. These factors can act as drivers or barriers depending on the context and the stakeholder perspective.
The impacts of technology adoption on farms can be positive or negative depending on the type, scale, and distribution of the technology.

To facilitate the transition to more sustainable and resilient farming systems through disruptive innovation and emerging technologies, the report recommends the following actions:

The industry should foster a culture of innovation and collaboration among farmers, researchers, policymakers, businesses, and consumers to identify and address the needs and opportunities of the sector.
The industry should invest in research and development to generate evidence-based knowledge and solutions that are relevant, accessible, and applicable to New Zealand’s farming context.
The industry should provide farmers with education and extension services to increase their awareness, understanding, and skills in using new technologies and practices.
The industry should engage with stakeholders and the public to communicate the benefits and challenges of technology adoption and to build trust and acceptance of new products and processes.
The industry should advocate for supportive policies and regulations that enable innovation and technology adoption while ensuring environmental protection, animal welfare, food safety, and social justice.

This report aims to stimulate discussion among the policy, farming, academic, and wider communities to help shape a future that will safeguard New Zealand’s social, economic, and environmental well-being.

Kathryn Broomfield

Non-Financial Reporting: Generating Value and Improving Sustainability from Non-Financial Farm Information.

Executive summary

Background
The New Zealand agriculture industry is being challenged to prove food and fibre is produced in a way that is considered sustainable by their export markets and local community. This is leading them to question what sustainable production looks like and how they show this. Increasing levels of regulation also mean there is greater financial risk from non-compliance, and their stakeholders are asking them for more detailed non-financial information. Non-financial reporting (“NFR”) is a way to help businesses manage their nonfinancial
risk areas, meet trade requirements, and communicate effectively with stakeholders.

Aims & Objectives
The research project aimed to understand how farmers are using NFR to generate more value in their business, and how they communicate their non-financial information to stakeholders, with the research question being: “How do farmers use non-financial information to measure sustainability performance and report to stakeholders?” This is important as farmers need to be able to generate value for their business and themselves from NFR, instead of it just being an additional cost and compliance obligation.

Methodology
The methodology comprises of a literature review to provide context around the changes in NFR and the requirements of the sector, farmers, and stakeholders. This aimed to provide clearer understanding of what NFR is, why it is important for sustainable development and stakeholder relationships, and how it can be developed in a farming business. Qualitative, semi-structured interviews were used to obtain insights and findings from farmers and stakeholders concerning non-financial reporting outcomes and effectiveness, how
sustainability was defined, and whether integrated reporting would be useful.

Key Findings
Analysis of the themes arising from the literature and interviews found:

Non-financial information and reporting should be an important part of the business planning and strategy process, and integrating reporting with financial results can help to drive investment decisions.
In managing their banking relationships, farmers should also look to show their financial understanding of environmental implications and their financial investment in environmental/social sustainability in their budgets and financial results.
An important driver of sustainability is having good people employed on farm that understand how they contribute to farm sustainability.
While farmers are adapting to compulsory measures of NFR for compliance, and some are going above and beyond compliance, others are struggling to understand what these numbers mean for their business.

Recommendations for Farmers
1. Identify what non-financial Key Performance Indicators (“KPIs”) are relevant to your business and use these as part of your business planning process to help ensure these are effective.
2. Engage support from your trusted advisory team to help you implement effective non-financial reporting.
3. Provide balanced NFR alongside financial reporting to shareholders and financiers to help provide whole-farm focus in discussions around results.
4. Engage with employees effectively as part of the sustainability process, to build a sustainable culture on-farm that will help generate desired results.
5. Drive farmer-led benchmarking to understand where you sit on the sustainability bell curve.
6. Understand the cost of being an early adopter, and target investment in sustainable actions gradually that will help to set up long-term business resilience.

Recommendations for Stakeholders
1. Engage early with farmers as part of the pre-audit process to gain buy-in and engagement for compliance requirements.
2. Build advisor capability to help farmers with the sustainability journey.
3. Use technology effectively and invest in systems that reduce time and input requirements for farmers to report on sustainability efforts.
4. Support early adopters of sustainable actions, through either financial assistance, industry recognition, or market premiums.

Jemima Snook

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The Missing Link: Community-Based Economies.

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A New Economic Framework.

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Background - Julia Galwey, 2020 Kellogg Scholar.

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