Agricultural land use: Lincoln University report urges new strategies

By RNZ

A new report suggests the country needs to change its thinking about how it uses agricultural land to get better productivity and economic returns from farmers.

The Lincoln University report, The Future Use of Land and How to Fund It, examines a range of scenarios driven by the need to control greenhouse gas emissions or increase export returns.

Alan Renwick, of Lincoln University, said the report looked at optimising the use of land, with the challenge of meeting economic, environmental, and social goals simultaneously.

“This requires practical, future-focused solutions - like integrating horticulture into traditional pastoral systems, developing on-farm processing to capture more value locally, or growing Māori agribusinesses around high-value niche products like mānuka honey or native botanicals.”

He said there were examples of how this was being done already, but it needed to happen at scale for real returns to the economy.

Every Hectare Matters

ASB Bank backed the report and said it was offering a new programme to support the ideas and their implementation.

General manager of rural banking Aiden Gent said the report offered insights and tools to help farmers make informed decisions.

He said farmers were committed to their land but needed to show changes in mindset to do more within the same farming footprint, rather than stick to one farming system, such as dairying or sheep and beef.

The Every Hectare Matters programme would bring together bank agri-specialists and outside experts, a land transition plan and a way to finance it.

“A key component of the programme is connecting farmers to farm-specific guidance on options and trade-offs for different land optimisation choices because we know no two farms are the same,” Gent said.

- RNZ