Sean Bennett
Consumers are beginning to expect food producers to look after their animals, the environment and their employees equally.
This is especially so on the international stage, where products with pasture to plate traceability are increasingly able to command premium pricing.
This is driving innovators in the red meat and deer sectors to look at how they can gain a competitive advantage over their rivals. It will be the ability to paint a best practice pasture-to-plate story, which industry must then have the ability to demonstrate and back up that will become essential as the alternate protein beast gains momentum.
One competitive advantage developed by industry bodies, processors and suppliers is compliance.
The New Zealand Farm Assurance programme (NZFAP) provides assurances in integrity, origin, traceability, bio-security, environmental sustainability and animal health and welfare.
It is a robust, comprehensive, audited system which also aims to lower farm business costs and reduce duplication, particularly for those who supply multiple organisations. These factors are all essential to maximising product returns and meeting the expectations of diverse international consumer markets.
A coinciding area of compliance for farmers in the Tukituki catchment is the 31 May 2018 deadline by which their farm environmental management plan (FEMP) has to have been completed and lodged with HBRC.
This FEMP can and should be should be front of mind and is about more than compliance. It provides you with part of your pasture to plate story. Your FEMP is your story, about your land and your business. It sets out how you are ensuring that your business is environmental sustainable and backs it up with hard evidence.
Farming businesses are also beginning to consider their carbon footprints and how to measure it, also part of your pasture-to-plate story. Your carbon footprint is included in the reporting process provided by the nutrient budget. You can calculate the effect business and farming practice changes have on your carbon footprint.
Ultimately, collaboration amongst processors and industry to standardise on-farm quality assurance programmes, as well as environmental compliance in FEMPs and carbon footprints, should be welcomed as steps in the quest for consistency around our on-farm stories.
This can only be good news for the red meat and deer industries as they begin telling the New Zealand story to consumers around the world.
If you are unsure of your obligations, or if you would like us to complete your nutrient budget and FEMP, please contact the team at Crowe Horwath.
This information is general in nature and readers should seek specialist advice before making financial decisions.