Federated Farmers: A welcome shot in the arm

The water quality of Manawatu River is important to all parties but excessive regulation could undermine the growth of primary industries.

Federated Farmers hopes the regional council's investment in the process, including as a core facilitator for the leadership team, will ensure the council focuses on their role of enabling economic development.

Agriculture figures prominently in the Manawatu-Whanganui regional growth strategy with five of eight opportunities identified -- land and agricultural-based developments.

These include sheep and beef processing, land use intensification, Manuka cultivation for honey production, fresh vegetables for export, poultry meat, grain growing and food innovation.

The Manawatu-Whanganui region is home to the largest numbers of sheep and beef farmers throughout provincial New Zealand.

The Government-commissioned report released in Palmerston North in July comes after months of work by the NZ Institute of Economic Research (NZIER) and consultants HenleyHutchings.

Local council, iwi, businesses and stakeholders, including Federated Farmers, were involved in identifying the growth opportunities.

Manawatu-Rangitikei provincial president James Stewart described the report as a "shot in the arm" for the region, and local primary industries, especially after a challenging winter.

"We are being given collaborative backing from local, regional and central government, and now it's up to us to take it up and make it work.

"It's positive to hear the words open for business but we must ensure we are a business-friendly environment," he said.

With the Horizons region one of the first off the mark in terms of the setting of targets for water quality, there is concern the opportunities for economic growth will not stymied by stringent regulation imposed by the regional council.

Federated Farmers hopes the regional council's investment in the process, including as a core facilitator for the leadership team, will ensure the council focuses on their role of enabling economic development.

Mr Stewart said it was about being smarter by using resources and raising performance -- given the region passed through the environment discussion -- and what opportunities there are within that.

With work on implementing the report under way, and the region determined it will not be a top drawer job, the conversation is turning to how to use the region's land and water to increase productivity and sustainability.

It is encouraging to see the regional council is looking introspectively at how the council's non-regulatory resources can better assist farmers to achieve these goals.

The council has a key role as a facilitator, through an enabling resource management framework and provision of infrastructure. This allows farmers to take the lead in maximising productivity through business decisions.

Manawatu-Rangitikei Dairy chair Mat Hocken says farmers, community, agriculture suppliers and the council will need to work together to catalyse the opportunities.

"The report does show that in some areas the region is under performing, and there are lots of opportunities to grow, particularly across the agricultural sector. There certainly is no lack of passion in the region to make this happen."