Federated farmers CEO says future lies in science and innovation

Graham Smith says the chance to head an iconic organisation like Federated Farmers was too good to resist.

Kiwi farming advocacy group Federated Farmers recently announced Graham Smith would be replacing Conor English as its chief executive. Australian-bred Smith has lived
in New Zealand since 2001 where he has been CEO of the Institute of Environmental Science & Research. He joins Federated Farmers this month from his position as CEO of Soda Inc, a Waikato business incubator that facilitates new agri-technology start-ups.

TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOUR BACKGROUND AND WHY YOU TOOK THE JOB.Most of my Australian history was very much around working in the food industry and for agricultural-based companies in the dairy industry. Most of my background has been in the food chain somewhere. That's what interests me.

To me, the opportunity to get back into the agricultural sector and work for an iconic organisation like Federated Farmers, it was just too good to resist.

YOU'VE ALSO DONE A LOT OF WORK WITH AGRICULTURE TECHNOLOGY. HOW DOES NEW ZEALAND'S STACK UP INTERNATIONALLY?Extremely well. Particularly in the whole dairy and sheep and beef space. I think New Zealand is one of the dynamic food-producing nations of the world and New Zealand farmers have historically always been great adopters of technology. Everywhere I've been in New Zealand, agricultural technology has tended to underpin a lot of what New Zealand does, and it's one reason why our productivity is so good. We haven't had tariff barriers and support mechanisms like parts of Europe so we've had to stand on our own two feet. Science and innovation have played an important role in that.

WHAT ARE THE MAIN CHALLENGES FACING MODERN FARMING?One is the balance between growth and environmental sustainability, particularly around water. Having grown up in Australia I'm very conscious of water -- both quality and quantity. We also need to continue to embrace and invest in science and innovation because that's going to play a critical role in our productivity and the types of products and services we develop.

We also need to keep New Zealand disease-free so we must continue to invest in biosecurity. Globally there's increasing incidences of animal disease crossing over to humans and we have to be very vigilant about that. With modern transportation, particularly air travel, it's very easy to transport diseases very quickly.

THERE ARE CONCERNS FARMING IS AN AGEING INDUSTRY. HOW CAN WE ATTRACT YOUNG PEOPLE AGAIN?It needs to be a sexy industry that young people believe will give them great satisfaction and rewards -- including financial. The way that technology's going, my children's generation are particularly savvy when it comes to the internet and I think there are a lot of technologies that are being developed that farmers will use that a lot of young people will be able to relate to.

DO YOU THINK THAT WILL BE ENOUGH TO DRAW THEM IN?I think it will help, but I don't think there's any one magic thing. We do need universities, polytechs and even schools to introduce more agri-tech programmes. The school that my daughter goes to in Hamilton is just in the process of introducing agri-technology programmes. That's encouraging.

HOW SIGNIFICANT IS RURAL NEW ZEALAND'S CONTRIBUTION TO THE NATIONAL ECONOMY? You only have to look at export numbers, which make up 70 per cent of our total exports. It's huge. Historically we've sometimes been in the wrong part of the world, but now we're in the right part of the world with the growth of Asia and the potential growth of the Asian middle class.

What tends to happen as economies and societies grow is they change what they eat, and the types of products that New Zealand produces -- like dairy and meat -- are absolutely in demand. If we do it right, we'll continue to be in demand for the next 10-plus years.

DO YOU THINK THE IMPORTANCE OF AGRICULTURE IS SOMETIMES OVERLOOKED?The great majority of New Zealanders live in cities and towns, but deep down people know that agriculture is still significant. A lot of people would recognise that agriculture is still the backbone of the country.

WE'VE HAD A PRETTY BAD TRACK RECORD WITH QUAD BIKE ACCIDENTS OVER THE LAST FEW YEARS. IS ENOUGH BEING DONE TO ENSURE SAFETY ON FARM VEHICLES?There's no doubt that safety on the farm is a critical issue. One serious accident or one death is one too many. Whether there's a systemic problem I don't know, I'm not sure what's being done but I will in six months' time.

HOW MUCH OF AN ISSUE IS RURAL SUICIDE AND WHAT'S FEDERATED FARMERS DOING TO ADDRESS THE PROBLEM?Rural suicide is a concern -- on both sides of the ditch. It's partly due to isolation and a whole range of other factors. There's a lot more attention and thought being given to what we can do to reduce those rates. I'm catching up with the Chief Medical Officer in the next few weeks and that's one of the things I want to talk to him more about. There's some tragic stories, and anything we can do collectively to reduce that risk can only be good.

WHAT IS FARMER CONFIDENCE LIKE AT THE MOMENT?The sense I get is overall confidence is pretty good. The great majority of farmers know it's never easy because they're always dealing with a range of natural factors that ultimately we can't control but with some reasonable seasons in the next few years and the potential demand in Asia, things are looking promising.