Upbeat driver takes wheel

Spaans is optimistic that dairy farmers have the experience, resources, knowledge and support to weather both low milk prices and impending drought.

Waikato dairy farmer Michael Spaans has been elected the new chair of industry body DairyNZ. We ask him some questions

Tell us a little about your background and why you took the job.

My wife and I have three children aged 14-20 and a 500-cow farming operation in Te Aroha. We also have farming interests in Canterbury, Chile and the US.

I've been farming since 1984 and, around the time of the industry merger discussions in 1999 that ultimately led to the formation of Fonterra, I became engaged in the debate. But it was my involvement on the Fonterra Shareholders' Council that lit the fire in me to be a governor. I now have a sharemilker on-farm which allows me to fully focus on my governance roles. I also sit on the boards of Fonterra Co-op Group and ASB Bank and am a chartered member of the Institute of Directors.

I've been a board member of DairyNZ for seven years and I took on this new leadership role because I think it's a really important and valuable industry body. I feel privileged to take on the mantle from John Luxton and carry on his legacy of keeping our industry strong and sustainable. As he would say, we're the All Blacks of dairy farming. New Zealand leads the world.

What main challenges face modern farming?

Right now our front-of-mind challenges are dealing with extreme market volatility; farming within environmental limits; consumer and community expectations and how we farm responsibly; the competition for talented people and the need to provide positive work environments. Greenhouse gases too remain firmly on our radar.

Given concerns farming is an ageing industry, how can we attract young people again?

How old is young and how old is old these days? New Zealand is ageing -- I don't think this is a challenge just for our industry but for the country. We're also living longer and healthier lives, so farmers can keep farming and offer a range of opportunities to people entering and climbing the career ladder without having to exit the industry.

We are also still attracting young people into our industry -- more than 40,000 people are employed in the NZ dairy industry -- on-farm and in processing and wholesaling for instance. That doesn't include the 14,000 sharemilkers and owner-operators. I know a lot of young farming staff and managers -- and the annual dairy industry awards showcase how many young people are finding great jobs in our industry. There's a lot of people changing careers later in life and coming into farming too. So it's not all doom and gloom -- ag student enrolments are up at many universities.

I think the biggest issue for us is to keep lifting our game as an attractive industry for people in general because there are a lot of options these days. We need to be developing and maintaining strong career pathways for people. Keeping rural communities as attractive and fun places to live with good shops, services, mobile and broadband is important, too.

My career as a dairy farmer has taken me from the farm into the boardroom of some of NZ's biggest companies. I think many young people need to know that farming teaches you about running a business as much as it does about producing milk efficiently. Also, we can offer a great outdoor lifestyle, with the flexibility to raise a family in the country.

How significant is rural New Zealand's contribution to the national economy?

Very. Dairy is a $13.2billion export industry -- the largest dairy exporter in the world. About half of the money that farmers get paid for their milk is spent on 'farm working expenses' like feed, veterinary services, fertiliser, dairy shed supplies, and that is money that supports local businesses, families, schools, services and rural communities in general. Money circulates in local communities and has a big impact in many regions including Taranaki, Waikato, Northland, Bay of Plenty, Canterbury and Southland.

You have farming interests in Chile and the US. How does NZ technology stack up internationally?

In my experience, really well. I have no worries about our competitors adopting our technology or practices and doing better than us because we're still the best at using it to the best advantage with our climate and land. It's a bit like our dominance on the rugby field -- we're still the world champions because we've built up a strong heritage of producing the best in that sport.

Dairy farming is in our DNA too -- we've been doing it for 200 years. We're known internationally for our dairy science, our innovation, our pasture systems and our ability to adapt and innovate to stay on top of the game. We also invest in our people and in our industry -- in 2014/15, $68 million of dairy farmers' money was collected through the milksolids levy -- and DairyNZ invests that money on research and development, environmental initiatives, improving farming systems and biosecurity in an effort to keep us farming competitively and responsibly. New Zealand is also unique in having an industry body like DairyNZ that not only does research and development and regional support but also a wide range of other services for dairy farmers to improve our competitiveness.

What is farmer confidence like at the moment?

It's certainly been a tough year but I think farmers are cautiously optimistic that things will gradually improve. Farmers play the long game -- and the prospects are still good for our industry. Farmers know they produce a product that is highly nutritious and the world wants it -- I think they are confident that as an industry we can get through the supply-demand market challenges and get things on to a more sustainable economic cycle.