Nuffield 2021 Reports

A fracturing social licence to farm. Recruitment. An authentic provenance story. These are our sector’s most entrenched challenges. At their roots, they are about culture, values and perception.

This paper initially set out to determine whether it was possible to better monetise sustainability with the New Zealand Deer Industry. In addition to this, I wanted to understand why NZ deer farmers seemed to achieve such poor returns in comparison to both the end value of their products, and the level of risk they accepted in producing them. And lastly, I wanted to know whether our conventional industry supply chains were going to be fit for purpose in a rapidly changing world.

Despite the introduction of the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 and a focus on improving health and safety, the rates of fatality and harm in NZ agriculture remain stubbornly high. This has negative impacts on the sector’s productivity, profitability and sustainability. The consequences for farming families and communities are tragic.

The era of trade liberalisation and reform in the 1980’s and 1990’s left New Zealand (NZ) focusing on what it was good at – being efficient commodity producers, and NZ exploited its comparative advantages. This drive for efficiencies created the domestic agenda for science and innovation. For agriculture, to drive productivity gains, the focus was inside the farm gate.

Commodity prices received by New Zealand farmers are close to all-time highs, yet we are protesting in the streets for the first time in decades. Our resistance to environmental regulation has exposed a vulnerability – we, farmers, are struggling to hold our place in the power hierarchy.