Opinion: New Zealand arable farmers are using science and technology to produce good food for the least impact, it's time this was recognised, Dr Jacqueline Rowarth writes.
Three-quarters of the bread sold in New Zealand is made from grain grown overseas.
This might be a surprise to some people, but, like the 60 per cent of pork products (85 per cent of ham and bacon) consumed in New Zealand but not produced here, overseas countries can sometimes operate more cheaply than we can in New Zealand.
Sometimes that is because of environmental conditions enabling greater yields, and sometimes it is standards in regulations around environment, welfare and employment that make the difference. Sometimes it is everything. Labelling doesn't always make origin clear.
In the case of milling wheat, New Zealand can grow high-yielding, good-quality grain but high transport costs to North Island mills make it less competitive than Australian wheat.
Increased awareness of standards might change the balance. If the demand translates to increased willingness to pay, growers will produce more.
A pre-Covid19 survey by the Foundation for Arable Research of almost 1000 New Zealanders buying bread indicated that just over half would be happy to pay up to 50 cents more per loaf of bread if they had proof that the bread was made with New Zealand-grown grains.
However, surveys don't always translate to reality, and it is the growers who have committed to change that can end up carrying the cost of failed expectations.
The problem is that only a small proportion of the price of a loaf of bread to the consumer actually ends up with the grower.
Last year the Foundation for Arable Research calculated that there is about 38-40c worth of wheat in a loaf – the rest of the cost, whether it is in a $1 loaf or an artisan creation at rather more; goes to post-farm added value rather than the value created by the farmer in converting the sun's energy and minerals to food.
In the arable industry, bread is only a small part of the activities.
The $255 million contribution to the export economy to June 2022, pales into insignificance when the domestic importance is remembered.
By providing seed and feed for other New Zealand farmers and innovators, the arable sector underpins the $33.8 billion export pastoral sector. It also supports the increasing number of spirit distilleries.
And they are diverse, which assists with efficiencies in management of nutrients, pests and diseases, and creates resilience in terms of weather events – one crop might be wiped out but others requiring harvesting at a different time might survive.
Some farmers have up to 20 crops on their farm in a single year and some are integrated with stock, bringing animals on to the farm for winter management (e.g., dry dairy cows), or for fattening (e.g., lambs).
Dr Jacqueline Rowarth. Photo / Supplied
The pasture part of their rotation of crops across the land is an important management practice for breaking the pest and disease cycle, weed management and organic matter increase.
Integration and adoption of new research and technologies have enabled New Zealand growers to be world-beating in wheat and barley yields.
Becoming self-sufficient in milling wheat by 2025 is one of them but depends upon New Zealanders creating the demand.
To help the decision around the purchase of New Zealand-grown grains they might like to dwell on the values of arable growers of New Zealand.
Hamish Marr, who was acknowledged on the night as a champion "small seed grower", is a fifth-generation arable farmer.
What gets him out of bed in the morning is the pride he has in producing good food, for people to enjoy.
Just like his father and grandfather, he believes that "every bag of seed, load of grain or animal that leaves our farm is a reflection of us as farmers and the values of our family. We take pride in what we produce and the fact that the companies we partner with trust us enough to put their name alongside ours. The value-add component is that they ask to do it again the following year."
Working with researchers from AgResearch (initially DSIR Grasslands), Lincoln University and the Foundation for Arable Research, the Marrs have helped with the development of new science and technologies to ensure that they are producing good food for least impact.
A sixth generation of Marrs is already on the ground. And, of course, new research and technologies are constantly being evaluated.
The story in New Zealand is one of heart and of science, working together. The question is whether consumers will truly value the combination.
- Dr Jacqueline Rowarth (jsrowarth@gmail.com), Adjunct Professor Lincoln University, and farmer-elected director of various entities, has worked with the arable industry, including two generations of Marrs, since the 1980s. The analysis and conclusions above are her own.
