KEY POINTS:
For rural types it's all about breeding - who your parents are, the type of herd you hang with, the kind of grass you eat, which paddocks you spent time in, and what boat you were shipped out on.
"Traceability" is this year's premier feature at the National Fieldays in Mystery Creek near Hamilton, which get under way tomorrow.
The four-day farming event is the biggest of its type in the Southern Hemisphere, mainly because it falls during the lowest ebb of productivity, allowing farmers to take a break.
Organisers are confident that traceability is the way of the future.
"It's all about farm to fork," Fieldays general manager Barry Quayle told the Herald. "Traceability will give a product a premium price in the market. People of today and tomorrow simply want to know what they are putting in their mouth."
The idea will be pitched to an audience of more than 100,000 over the next four days, and to illustrate the concept Fieldays organisers will track the movement of thousands of farmers.
In a scene that reflects Big Brother tactics, a tag will be attached to volunteer farmers that will trace their movement between exhibits, clocking in what they looked at, for how long, and the kind of purchases they made.
Mr Quayle said new ways of keeping ahead of the competition for the highest overseas prices needed to be promoted to farmers.
Traceability essentially saw individual animals "bar-coded" for life and beyond.
Data on what paddocks the animal grazed in, how much wool or milk or velvet it produced, how long it took to get through the distribution channel, and what price it fetched could be compiled.
So if the Queen decided she wanted a slice of New Zealand wing rib, her butler would be able to specify exactly which farm the beef should come from.
And if Prince Charles ordered that his meat be organic, he would be able to identify exactly what diet the animal was fed during its life Downunder.
Mr Quayle said advances in science and technology in the past few years were rapidly refining the way farmers were making money. Identification of where cost savings could be made was a major attraction of traceability.
"This is a system that will give New Zealand farmers access to the highest-value markets, and will carve out a distinct niche for us."
Recent talk of sustainability and carbon footprints meant overseas markets were becoming increasingly discerning. That's where lucrative margins could be made, he said.
The industry was also reacting before Governments did, and in many cases compliance would not be a future issue. Already many countries, such as China, France and those in South America, were looking at tighter food and produce regulations.
Animal welfare was high on the agenda of many consumers, and traceability could establish the credibility of New Zealand products.
Big Days Out:
* About 115,000 are expected to visit the Mystery Creek Fieldays over the four days from tomorrow to Saturday.
* The number of females attending has nearly doubled since the 1990s, from 18 per cent to 34 per cent.
* A record 30,000 tickets have been sold in advance. Organisers credit the All Black test in Hamilton on Saturday as a possible factor for the high advance sales.
* 3500 international visitors attended Mystery Creek last year from 38 separate countries.
Major Events:
* Tomorrow: Rural Bachelor of the Year, chainsaw champ heats, Ag Art Wear, Suzuki Extreme Air Demo, super modified tractor display, wearable science event, possum fur fashion show.
* Thursday: Logging skills and log carving competition, Innovation Centre awards breakfast, Dr Russell Frew's geochemical fingerprinting seminar, stock handling demonstrations.
* Friday: Silver spades fencing competition, Sonic Arts Challenge, Traceability seminar "Gate to the Plate".
* Saturday: Finals of tractor pull, chainsaw competition, Ag Art Wear, stock handling demonstrations, fencing, sheep dog trials.
