Andrew Reid: Innovation the name of his game

Andrew Reid

DairyNZ, the industry association representing New Zealand dairy farmers, has appointed a new manager of extensions - Andrew Reid. A former consultant for Agriculture New Zealand, Reid hails from a family dairy farm in the Bay of Plenty, and was most recently the general manager of sales for Ballance Agri-Nutrients. He also holds a bachelor of agricultural science from Massey University.

Tell us a bit about your background

I was born and raised on a dairy farm in Whakatane in the Bay of Plenty. I loved helping dad milk the cows and feed the calves, so it was no surprise that I ended up studying agriculture. I graduated with an agricultural science degree from Massey University. I worked initially as an agricultural consultant after university, and have had 20 years with fertiliser co-operative Ballance Agri-Nutrients in a variety of roles in field and leadership positions, most recently as general manager - sales.

What does your role at DairyNZ entail?

I'm responsible for leading DairyNZ's team of regionally based consulting officers. This is the arm of the organisation that interacts with dairy farmers across the entire country every day, brokering knowledge and looking for opportunities to improve farm productivity and profitability, while promoting good practice and environmental responsibility.

How important is dairy to the New Zealand economy?

It's a vital contributor to the prosperity of local and national economies. A lot of a farmer's income is spent on everyday farm working expenses like veterinary services, feed and fertiliser. There are nearly 12,000 dairy farms in New Zealand and all their spending is money that circulates in a community and supports a range of services. On top of that New Zealand earns around $18.1 billion from dairy farming export revenue each year and the industry employs 40,700 people on-farm and in processing and wholesaling. Dairy farming contributes 46 per cent of New Zealand's total primary industry export value - and Fonterra is the largest dairy exporter in the world.

What methods, innovations or ideas are DairyNZ bringing to farmers to help them maximise returns?

Dairy farmers are the greatest innovators and our job is to support and facilitate that passion. A lot of our research and development is through focus farms and research projects that farmers help us with, so they are a big part of driving our industry's innovation. For example, around 17 farms around the country are now milking cows with robots and farmers are leading that move.

So it's not a matter of bringing our ideas to farmers - it's all about working with farmers to help them make the best decisions and to take the research and development that we do, test it on farm and ensure that it delivers innovative technologies and solutions to meet the future needs of dairy farms.

One recent innovation has been the development of a forage value index to help farmers with pasture renewal decisions.

We have developed the forage evaluation system in conjunction with the New Zealand Plant Breeding and Research Association to provide an estimated profit index, called the DairyNZ Forage Value Index [measured in $/ha], for perennial ryegrass cultivars in different regions of New Zealand. The DairyNZ FVI includes economic values and performance values for seasonal dry-matter production. Each cultivar has an associated star rating.

In what other ways is DairyNZ helping farmers at the moment?

We are running a Tactics for Tight Times campaign to help farmers support each other through the low milk price. We've held more than 30 events so far, and we have dedicated advice and tips and tools that farmers can access easily online. We have around 70 farmers involved and sharing their farming experiences online as case studies, too.

Dairy farming has a high environmental impact. How is DairyNZ helping dairy farmers reduce their environmental footprint?Dairy farmers care about how their everyday farming practices impact on local environments. Farmers have spent millions on fencing off their waterways, plantings and covenanting native bush areas, upgrading effluent systems and nutrient budgeting. There are 1.7 million hectares of dairy land in New Zealand and farmers take their land stewardship responsibilities very seriously.

The entire industry, including Federated Farmers, DairyNZ and the dairy companies, are committed to targets in the Sustainable Dairying: Water Accord and that includes 100 per cent stock exclusion from waterways by 2017.

DairyNZ has over 50 research and development projects funded by dairy farmers aimed at improving dairying's environmental footprint, and we're developing 1000 farming leaders to create positive environmental changes. We have also created more than 700 sustainable milk plans around the country to drive good environmental practice and actions on-farm. We also have 16 community waterway projects that we are supporting farmers to be part of so they can make a difference to local water quality.

The EU scrapped its milk quota at the beginning of April, allowing it to produce more milk products. What effect do you see this having on the New Zealand dairy industry and exports?

We don't expect it will have much initial impact, but the Netherlands, Germany, France, Denmark and Ireland will look to increase their milk production over the next five years and this could have some impact on our key export markets.

How are dairy farmers feeling about the drop in Fonterra's payout from last time's record high of $8.40 to this year's forecast $4.50?

Managing volatility is our greatest challenge. There's a lot of uncertainty with milk price at the moment, so helping farmers understand and adopt tactics that suit their farming system to get through tight times is the immediate challenge for the industry.

Cashflows for this next season will be under pressure and farmers are feeling that stress.

Many farmers will dip into the red this spring and not pop up into the black for some time. Farmers are working out strategies to manage their way through a tough season. We are a resilient industry so I am confident we will manage our way through this short-term challenge.

When do you think we might see a dairy price recovery, and do you think we'll see 2013-14 levels again?

This cycle of milk prices is very similar to the 2008/09 downturn. Milk prices are volatile and difficult to predict which is why farmers should approach next season with caution. Long term, the prospects for dairy remain positive and strong, with growing demand for high-quality food in developing economies.

What's the most exciting thing coming up on your horizon that you'd like people to know about?

I've been in this job for only a few weeks so this role is currently the most exciting challenge on my horizon!

DairyNZ plays a pivotal role in New Zealand dairy farming, with a great team of committed and passionate people and values that are well aligned to my own.

Getting to know my team and the priorities in the regions in which they operate is my number one priority.