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Federated Farmers: past, present and future.

Executive Summary

Federated Farmers is a strong lobby and advocacy organization that has proudly represented New Zealand’s primary production sector since 1946.

In the period from 2014 to early 2018 Federated Farmers experienced a 7.5% decline in membership subscriptions. While much of this decline can be attributed directly to a significant downturn in dairy farming returns in 2015, it is also reflective of more systemic problems that threaten the organisation’s traditional membership model and future viability. This raises the key study question; is the current Federated Farmers membership model sustainable?

To address this question the primary aims of the project are to;

  • Understand Federated Farmers history and lessons that can be learnt from this.
  • Describe the current operation of Federated Farmers, its weaknesses and strengths.
  • Understand and articulate the membership story, its complexity and implications.
  • Identify current issues, disruptive trends and the key challenges that threaten Federated Farmers long term viability.
  • Consider and discuss organizational changes and strategies that might support the Federations future viability and important ongoing contribution to New Zealand’s rural sector.
  • Make recommendations on actions identified.

Qualitative data and information from a variety of different sources have been gathered, studied and analyzed. These have informed and helped identify the key issues and challenges and contributed to the formation of ideas and discussion on future strategy and recommendations.

The key disruptions and challenges identified are;
The growing demand for food security, safety and traceability with ever rising environmental and animal welfare standards has created a complex, highly politicised and crowded market space for Federated Farmers to operate in.

Increased competition from levy funded organisations, other member based advocacy groups and rural support groups make it very difficult to maintain and grow a membership base.

The long-term, but potentially growing trend of urban expansion competing for land, farm amalgamations and multi-farm ownership threatens Federated Farmers traditional membership model.

Being predominantly a public good provider for the rural sector is another long-term problematic trend that enables members and non-members alike to enjoy the benefits of Federated Farmers success in lobbying and advocacy.

Arguably the number one challenge identified is a perceived lack of relevance particularly amongst younger non-member farmers. Awareness of the scope of Federated Farmers amongst non-members was largely limited to contracts/agreements at best or only very vague notions at worst. A common theme was that the organisation lacked visibility in the farming community and as such was easily dismissed as remote and distant.

Answering the study question;
The implication of these challenges and the symptoms of decline that the organisation has experienced in recent years suggest that the current Federated Farmers membership model is not sustainable.

Exploring the Solutions;
Three key themes are identified to help bridge the perceived irrelevance gap and encourage growth. These are vision, identity and transparency.

Vision relates to Federated Farmers’ leadership role as a public good provider for the entire rural sector. A clear vision and purpose is required to attract new members, commercial partners and collaboration with other advocacy providers.

Identity and/or belonging relates to realigning membership so that members identify more closely with and are better connected to their local province. Federated Farmers’ provincial structure is a unique strength of the organisation as it provides nationwide representation and the best opportunity for growth and alignment with non-members at grass-roots level.

Transparency relates to the national governance structure. The lack of membership understanding and engagement in this process adds to the perception of a remote and distant organisation. Also the current structure potentially misses the opportunity to introduce specific skill sets that bring experience in the governance of large not-for-profit organisations.

Recommendations are specific actions based on the three key themes;

  1. That Federated Farmers identifies a vision statement that encapsulates the Federations original purposes of; ‘protecting, fostering and advancing the interest of all farmers and of farming generally’ 
  2. That Federated Farmers conducts a review of and analyzes the opportunity to strengthen provincial operations to improve visibility and non-member perceptions.
  3. That Federated Farmers reviews its current national governance and representation model.

Carbon sequestration rates on different land uses.

Executive Summary

Soil carbon is a key indicator for the health of the land. Arguably, the long-term agrarian wealth of a nation is determined by whether soil is being formed or lost. If soil carbon is being lost, so too is the economic and ecological foundation on which production and conservation are based. Soil carbon provides the infrastructure for micro-organisms to thrive, stabilises soil, improves nutrient and water cycling, increased biodiversity, all leading to soil resilience and improved profitability.

The purpose for my research was to understand the science related to changing soil carbon concentrations in NZ and how this has provided the framework for policy.

Approximately half of NZ’s land mass is in pastoral production and has been excluded from the emission trading scheme along with any land uses other than commercial forestry due to the science.  No research has yet been validated on how to increase soil carbon stocks in NZ, but the wider science related to carbon depletion is not so limited. Conclusive evidence is forecasted to be published in 2020. This understanding needs to be data rich and not driven by models. End goal is to include soil carbon crediting for other land uses such as pastoral and horticulture.

Silvopastoral system provides a diverse range of land uses similar to nature with livestock and trees grown in symbiosis. Not only does this diversify income, but financially rewarding. This land use qualifies for the Afforestation Grant Scheme by MPI to fund tree establishment. Further trials are necessary to substantiate the potential carbon sequestration from this land use but trials from similar conditions overseas are generating exciting results.

Exposed soil reduces soil carbon stocks via oxidation (released as CO2) and/or increased risk of soil erosion at a rate of 35kg C/ha/day leading to sediment contamination in waterways and is one of the main issues facing NZ. Disincentivise and/or educating land users from this practice will mitigate soil carbon losses providing flow on effects. Diversity has a key contribution; diverse plants have higher root biomass, leading to high storage capability contributing to increased soil carbon compared to monocultures.

The most valuable, productive soil types in NZ have the highest soil carbon losses due to intensification, particularly cultivation. The biggest potential for addressing climate change and sequestering carbon from the atmosphere is from our Brown soils that make-up 22% of our land area.

NZ soils are young and generally have high carbon content, unlike soils elsewhere. This reduces the plausibility of using overseas science to adopt in NZ emphasising the need for greater investment in this field. Society seems more interested in space than what I believe is one of the final frontiers.

Mitigating nitrogen loss: The financial impact.

Executive Summary

Currently, the environment and water quality are at the forefront of New Zealanders minds. There is a general consensus that our environment is suffering from the strain modern society has put on it. As a consequence of this, the agriculture industry is coming under increased pressure and scrutiny to find solutions to address this problem. The subject has become a political football, with every one with a vested interest having their say, whether their opinions are informed or not.

The National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management places regulatory obligations on Regional Councils to improve or maintain water quality (MFE, 2016). Regional Councils around the country are in various stages of implementing policies to try to mitigate these problems. In Canterbury, Environment Canterbury is achieving this with the help and guidance of Zone Committees and catchment groups. The inclusion of local stakeholders and community engagement to help address local problems is a positive step. The outcomes locals decide will be far better received than policies imposed from outside influences.

To look deeper into the problem, I have studied the potential impacts of some of the proposed recommendations in the OTOP (Orari-Temuka-Opihi-Pareora) zone, one of the ten sub-regions in Canterbury. These Recommendations have been taken from the OTOP Draft ZIPA (Zone Implementation Program Addendum), which was released in December 2017 (OTOP Zone Committee, 2017). At the time of writing this document the above plan is in the submission period.

The specific part of the proposed plan I have looked at refers to the Rangitata-Orton area of the OTOP zone, which has been found to have high nitrates concentrations in ground water. The recommendations are that farms in the zone may have to reduce nitrogen leaching to ground water by up to 30-40% if water quality in the catchment does not improve in the next 5-10 years.

To test the implications of these proposed recommendations I have modelled a dairy farm, McClelland Dairies, which is situated in this zone. The purpose of the study is to determine what service industries will be significantly impacted from the implementation of such policies.

I believe this study is important because little information is circulated about who bears the brunt of cut backs to primary industries, whether these primary industries facing cutbacks are Agriculture, Mining, Forestry, or the likes.

To investigate the problem, I created Overseer nutrient budgets for McClelland Dairies, using current farm management factors (stocking rates, inputs and outputs), to calculate the total amount of nitrogen being lost (i.e. leached) below the root zone from the whole property. The current nitrogen losses to water per hectare from McClelland Dairies, at Good Management Practice (GMP), are 108kg/N/ha/yr. Therefore, to meet the 40% reduction in nitrogen leaching losses, nitrogen loss has to decrease to 65kg/N/ha/yr.

I applied nitrogen mitigations to McClelland Dairies by implementing soil moisture monitoring, reducing imported supplementary feed and the stocking rate, to achieve the desired 40% cut in nitrogen leaching. Following this, I created financial budgets of the two farming systems (base farm (status-quo) and 40% mitigation scenario) and compared their financial performance, in order to determine the financial implications of the 40% nitrogen leaching reduction. This data created a picture of where the impact will be felt.

When I started out on this project, I expected that the nitrogen mitigation would have a significant adverse impact on farm profitability. However, some of the results came as a surprise. The difference in profit between the base farm and 40% mitigation scenario was relatively small. The base farm had a profit of $684,647 compared to the farm with lower nitrogen leaching which had a profit of $664,642. The difference was $20,005 or 2.9%.

The greater financial impact was felt in the businesses that supplied the farm. The farm with the applied mitigations and lower nitrogen losses had farm working expenses of $95,339 less than the base farm. This money would have been spent locally and had a direct impact to the local economy. The most significantly impacted service industries were feed suppliers, fertiliser companies, transport firms and local jobs across the service industries. All of these have flow-on effects to the greater economy.

With the issues highlighted in this study I recommend that there should be greater emphasis on investigating all the implications of placing restrictions on primary industries.

Personally, the environment is also important to me. I live, work and play in the same environment that we farm. I believe there is a balance to be reached between the impact that we as a society have on the environment and the financial viability of this same society.

We are already here so with the help of new ideas, science and technology and time, I am positive a solution to the problems we face will be found.

The effective leadership of remote agribusiness sales teams.

Executive Summary

The New Zealand Agricultural Sector makes up about two thirds of the exported goods from New Zealand and as such remains the most important industry for New Zealand’s economy. Agricultural farms span from Stewart Island in the South to Cape Reinga in the North, some 1600 km away and from one coast line in the east to the other in the west up to 400km apart, with a total land mass of 268,000 square kilometres. For Agribusinesses who wish to support these farmers with products and services, this is a logistical challenge.

Traditionally in New Zealand the method in which farmers have traded with Agribusinesses who supply them with products, services and advice is over the kitchen table. This originates from a time when technology such as mobile phones, the internet, fax machines and overnight courier were still to be discovered. Farmers would less frequently travel to town, either because the distance was too far, the roads too poor or there was no need.

Co-operatives were formed and as such there were milk processing companies nearby, a fertiliser distributer, a farm supplies store and a bank. A local representative from the respective Agricultural Company would visit the farmer on farm, have discussions and provide advice around their requirements and then ensure these products or services were deployed to the farm accordingly.

As technology has evolved farmers are now able to use multiple platforms to engage with their farm supply companies. There are multiple communication channels and most products and services that a farmer may need can be purchased and subsequently delivered without even talking to somebody. However as a result of history the large proportion of customers still prefer to conduct business over the kitchen table and as a result most agribusinesses in New Zealand have Sales representatives dispersed as far as Kaitaia to Gore. The majority of these businesses do not have headquarters, offices or stores in all of these regions so the sales representative typically works from a home office and their line manager is usually over 100km’s away working from a separate location.

From a leadership perspective this poses challenges for the manager of these dispersed teams when it comes to creating a high performing team who feel part of a team, are well coached, rewarded, recognised for their achievements, trained and where necessary their performance managed. Unlike the typical office environment where a manager will see and interact face to face with their reports often on a daily basis, having employees 100km away and often mobile on the road means the manager requires a unique set of skills.

As a leader of a remote based sales team in the agricultural sector I saw an opportunity to understand this dynamic better and review existing literature and research which has been done on the topic and also conduct my own survey of other rural leaders in the same positon as to how they lead their teams.

After reviewing literature and from my own experience in the area of leading a remote sales team I decided to take a closer look at 5 keys areas of leading a remote sales team: the team dynamic, coaching, effective feedback, reward and recognition and productivity.

Existing literature confirmed that remote sales teams can be highly effective and productive if led well with a clear vision and purpose. The key to success is having a well-designed team who understand what their job is, are kept well informed of how they are doing, have a good relationship with their manager and are clear on what their future is. Management is a discipline which has changed dramatically over time and is now a lot less effective. To be an effective coach in a leadership role will improve team performance at a greater rate than management in the purist sense.

Reward and recognition are key elements of keeping a team productive, positive and engaged. And under the right leadership remote teams can be more productive than their office based counterparts.

For leaders reading this discussion paper there are five take home messages: recruit the right team, give them a clear purpose, tap into their hearts and minds by being an effective coach, reward and recognise to drive the right behaviour and provide regular, effective and meaningful feedback to improve the effectiveness of your people.

Leadership: What are the key attributes for success.

Executive Summary

Leadership is one of the many fundamental components of a successful business. Understanding and appreciating what makes up leadership can ultimately drive success. No matter what the business size, sector or turnover, a successful business requires great leadership.

To be a great leader requires a particular skill set; not everyone is naturally a leader. However, research has shown that successful leadership is a process and can be learned; there are definable skills that you need to possess to succeed.
 
What are the key skills that a successful leader needs to possess? Do leaders draw more on soft or hard skills? As generations change in character will the leaders of tomorrow need to draw on an alternative skill set? These are the key questions that have been researched in the following study.
Two approaches were used to investigate these questions. A literature review was completed looking at three studies with a focus on leadership skills. In addition a survey and six in person interviews were conducted with a group of agricultural leaders in the Marlborough region.
 
From the literature, survey and interviews key skills were highlighted that were critical to being a successful leader. Communication and listening ranked highly and when used effectively these skills build trust and inspire loyalty. Once trust is established a culture of safety develops allowing an environment where people are free to innovate. Kouzes and Posner (2012) stated that people who are perceived as trusting are more sought out as friends, more frequently listened to, and subsequently more influential. The most effective leadership situations are those in which each member of the team trusts the others.
 
The key recommendations that have come from this report for leaders are;
  • Good Communication and effective skills are is essential. If done effectively and genuinely it allows people to feel closer to their leader building trust, teamwork, engagement and ultimately results.
  • Support and develop others. In showing commitment to growth, people are motivated to reciprocate by often going the extra mile. Leaders need to recognise that great things cannot be achieved all by themselves.
  • Relationships. To be an effective leader you must first understand the people you are leading; building a relationship takes effort. By adopting a relationship-driven approach leaders can earn the trust and confidence of an increasingly diverse workforce and improve long-term retention.
  • Integrity. Getting this right is fundamental for success. Integrity is consistently rated as one of the most important character traits of a respected leader. After all, if you cannot count on a leader to consistently operate with high ethical standards, and with honesty, how can you trust them.
  • Leadership style. If you try to simply adopt a company’s style or try to copy someone else’s style your lack of authenticity will show through. It is about being self-aware, knowing what you stand for and what is important.
  • Soft skills are now becoming increasingly important for the future workforce, as a leader being aware that you need skills such as listening, creativity, agility, and problem solving are becoming as important as expertise and technical competency.

The following study presents the findings and discussions that have resulted in the above key recommendations.

Water sharing in a water short catchment.

Executive Summary

In New Zealand (NZ) freshwater management has become a top political issue with most New Zealanders having an emotional attachment to freshwater and how it is managed. The question is, how do we manage freshwater and respect diverse interest and complex environmental interactions? The aim of this study was to gain an understanding of freshwater management, and identify successful policies and management structures that can meet the needs of rural communities. This project includes a review of the literature around environmental governance and unstructured interviews with regulators, industry individuals and those involved with water governance.

New Zealanders are unlikely to respond to authority unless they understand why. Catchment specific limits around water quality and quantity, empowers rural communities, allowing flexibility for methods to solve issues and giving ownership over solutions. This approach and other bottom up approaches such as Maniototo Pest Management have developed a high level of social capital in the Upper Taieri Catchment, meaning compliance limits set by the Otago Regional Council (ORC) are often bettered by local initiative.

The Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA) set NZ on a different path allowing meaningful recognition of environmental and social values. The RMA is based around sustainable management, principles with an integrated approach to environmental management. Agreed principles give the opportunity for groups to identify shared values. If groups agree in principle, this enhances the opportunity to build trust. If trust is not built between water users, stakeholder groups and regional authorities it increases the likelihood of resource consent applications ending up in the environment court. This adds significant time and cost, and the opportunity to create win-win scenarios is lost.

In California, ownership rights and a strict priority system of ‘first in first served’, means water is unevenly distributed between communities and can result in significant geographic differences in wealth. Ownership rights to water encourage competition between users and ‘Tragedy of the Commons’ where individuals are unlikely to preserve the resource because they expect another will take it. The user group structure being achieved in the upper Taieri reduces competition between users by giving top priority to the environment.

Efficiency of water use is the net value of outputs generated from inputs. Individual catchments around NZ, like the Upper Taieri are all unique so best use of a water resource is appropriately established at community level with an integrated catchment governing body such as the Upper Taieri Group. This gives opportunity to harness the valuable social capital and local knowledge.
In conclusion, good environmental policy will alter behaviour in a way that is appropriate to the needs of communities. While freshwater interests in NZ must always be respected, the implications of ownership rights or top down policies will likely have negative implications for rural communities. NZ has a chance to be world leaders in freshwater management by using social capital to reduce compliance costs and achieve policy goals. This is reliant on central and regional government recognising the value of community engagement. Transparency, face to face communication and compromise are needed and should be encouraged to achieve policy goals.

Trading Among Farmers (TAF):Why we need it, how well is it working and where to in the future.

Executive Summary

The decision by Fonterra to implement TAF (Trading Among Farmers) back in 2012 was a major decision in the history of the co-operative and was predominantly to address an issue know as Redemption risk. This redemption issue was something Fonterra conceded to in the process of forming Fonterra in 2001. Government at the time wouldn’t allow the mega co-operative to be formed without shareholders and their capital to leave freely.

The final vote to implement TAF saw some shareholders raise concerns the process becoming the first step towards a public share listing and loss of farmer control. There was a strong belief that retained earning could address Redemption risk.

The aim of this report is to look at the TAF model now that it has been in place for close to 6 years. The report aims to look at why did we need TAF, how well is the model working, where would we be without it and where does Fonterra’s capital structure need to head in the future.

My study process involved reading background information that Fonterra provided its shareholders during the capital restructure process to understand why we needed. Talking with and asking some set questions of people who were involved in the process. Gaining the opinion of respected industry people who have no strong links to Fonterra through a questionnaire to build some common theme’s or opinions. Putting together a table showing Fonterra’s capital expenditure over the past 10 years, along with some key metrics of milk supply change, pay-out and gearing ratios. Analysing this data set to make some assumptions of where Fonterra would be placed without TAF. The final section deals with the fact that capital structure is an ever evolving model in co-operatives and where does Fonterra need to head in the future.

The key findings from the report are that, Redemption risk was very real issue that Fonterra faced, and we were much better placed to deal with issue back in 2007-2012 from a position of strength. It would have been a much more challenging issue to deal with now as Fonterra continues to lose milk supply via cessations and to rival competitors. Certainly, doing nothing or having greater retained earnings were not viable solutions, it simply meant kicking the can down the road. TAF is complicated to fully understand but no other viable options were really put forward at the time. TAF has given Fonterra the confidence of permeance in the balance sheet to go out and continue making capital investments without having the concern of shareholders leaving the co-operative and taking their capital with them.

Heading to the future Fonterra needs to be talking with its shareholder base on a regular basis about what they want from their co-operative and how this aligns with strategy and capital structure. Capital structure is an ever-evolving process and everyone in the business needs to be brave and open enough to good strong discussions on all options. Most outside commentators believe a two-business model one where the processing assets are separate from the value add/brands part of the business would serve the co-operative best. This would drive better performance from each unit and allow farmer shareholders to have greater choice over the level of capital they invest in their co-operative. At the end of the day there is no right or wrong answer, but it is important that discussion is strong and robust. Shareholders needs and wants from their co-operative will change over time and they are the ones who control its future direction of travel.

How to earn your social licence to operate.

Executive Summary

The topic of social licence has become more mainstream in New Zealand in the past five years as our primary sector has grappled with what appears to be a public discontent with its environmental, health and safety, animal welfare and employment performance. The public discontent appears as if it is driving a wedge between the primary sector and urban communities (rural urban divide), however a recent report by the Ministry for Primary Industries on New Zealander’s views of the sector shows declining views of the sector from both urban and rural communities.

A Business NZ meeting, hosted at the request of Ministers English and Carter in 2012, (Muller & Garey, n.d.), was unanimous that social licence to operate issues are not only relevant to the agribusiness sector, but that further efforts from businesses in general were required to clarify and meet public expectations surrounding  the social licence to operate. It was agreed that future national and regional governments are likely to regulate more and existing property rights had the potential to be affected.

In five years, positive perceptions of New Zealand dairy farming have slipped from 78% to 47% for urban respondents as have rural respondent’s views, though slightly higher, going from 83% to 50% (UMR Research, 2017). Dairy is used as an example here because this particular industry has been the main point of focus to date in public criticism. While these results tell us the industry is not yet at complete ‘withdrawal’ of its Social Licence to Operate (SLO), it is heading in that direction. Therefore the importance of not only understanding what a SLO is, but what can cause an industry or organisation to lose it and earn it back is paramount to New Zealand’s primary sector if it wants to maintain its access to natural resources and remain profitable.

The Potential of Blockchain.

Executive Summary

Blockchain is a digital platform that stores and verifies transactions between users. It is different from other digital databases in the following ways; it allows peer-to-peer transactions rather than relying on an intermediary to facilitate the transaction; the information is distributed throughout the network rather than being held in one central database; data is encrypted so that it is unable to be changed in any way; and any changes to the network require consensus among all participants in the network.

The potential for blockchain is huge, with it now having hundreds of uses across the financial, manufacturing, health, and education sectors. It has created a secure, immutable way to store information on all kinds of assets. This report will focus on the use of blockchain within supply chains. Supply chains are a perfect use case for blockchain technology as they require multiple parties having access to the same information.

This report will cover the fundamentals of how blockchain technology works, it will investigate how blockchain could change supply chains, and it will identify and understand the global trends that are driving the need for this technology. New Zealand is in a great position as a producer of premium food and fibre to capitalise on blockchain technology. We aim to feed the top 40 million consumers, these consumers want more safety and security around their food, they want to know where it has come from, how it was produced; they care about a healthy environment and the sustainability of the planet. For New Zealand businesses, they are looking for ways to protect their reputation, fending off imitation products and maintaining a premium position for products. The transparency offered by blockchain provides this information to every entity in the supply chain.

Transparency is one of the key drivers of blockchain technology, but the other outcome for the New Zealand primary sector is greater supply chain efficiency. With more stream-lined supply chains, there will be a faster turnaround of goods and finance, fewer transaction costs, and ultimately more money back to the people who grow the product.

As an agricultural exporting nation, New Zealand has huge opportunity to lead the world in developing agricultural supply chains that connect, shorten, and sharpen global supply chains. Blockchain has the potential to reshape the way New Zealand agricultural companies market, sell and record the provenance of our products to the globe. If we are to lead the world, then we must invest in understanding this technology now.

Public perception of the crop protection Industry and how this could be improved.

Executive Summary

By the utter fact food for human consumption is generally farmed by way of established monocultures, it is never a choice not to use crop protection, but rather what approach is employed, i.e. is it by way of physics, chemistry, biology or ecology?

Public perception of the New Zealand crop protection industry is not that of an exemplifier (at least not from an anecdotal perspective). Improvement is required. What is also clear is the fact that the general public’s understanding of the crop protection industry is limited, with a high level of uncertainty when it comes to what constitutes the practice of crop protection.

For a small country like New Zealand, only producing enough food to feed circa 40 million people (six million being local plus annual visitors), quality of product needs to be our leading competitive X– factor. For this reason, all that is involved in the food production cycle (and how aspects such as crop protection are perceived by the public) needs to be known and appropriately addressed by the industry. Perception is an individual’s “world view” – right or wrong and matters to the individual (the ultimate end consumer).

Little research has been conducted analysing the public’s perception of the crop protection industry with respect to New Zealand. In a world of heightened societal concern regarding threats to human health, nutrition and the environment, such things as “people’s perceptions” can translate into real effects in the marketplace. Given the importance of both crop protection and the perceived quality of New Zealand produce both locally and internationally, it was important that a pilot study be conducted to ascertain where improvement could take place as far as people’s perceptions of the New Zealand crop protection industry is concerned, hence the research question of this report being:

Public Perception of the Crop Protection Industry and how this could be improved.

As far as the methodology employed for this study, a survey instrument was the chosen research strategy for this report. Following an extensive review of the literature and science based findings, it was deemed appropriate that the retailer (12) for the purpose of this project, be utilised as a suitable proxy for the general public. A non-parametric technique, namely descriptive analysis was chosen for the survey review. A qualitative construct as far as survey design was subsequently employed.

Key findings gathered through the results included such things as high levels of ambivalence regarding people’s attitudes with respect to the protection of food through the production cycle.

This phenomenon does not help with fostering a positive or even neutral attitude associated with all things crop protection.

Great progression as far as safer more targeted products have characterised the crop protection industry over recent decades. Due to an array of reasons we are now also seeing significant investment taking place in a new category of crop protection, namely biologics.

Pseudoscience, media sensationalism, pressure groups, naivety were all found to be causes giving rise to negative perceptions associated with the crop protection industry.

This report outlines a raft of recommendations taking into account a range of tactics that need to be better promoted, fast tracked or simply communicated by way of a more united industry voice.