Clean, green standoff

By LIAM DANN in Tumba, Sweden

We might be clean and green but we are also cheap and dangerous in the eyes of European farmers.

Zealand's dairy industry went under the international spotlight yesterday at the DeLaval 3D Dairy Development conference in Sweden.

Fonterra director Greg Gent and dairy farmer Gordon McKenzie presented 250 farmers and industry representatives with a snapshot of the New Zealand dairy model, and made a gentle case for not treating Kiwi farmers as the enemy.

"We don't see milk from any others farmers as the enemy," Gent said. "We need to be focused on growing dairy's total share of the food market."

Despite their efforts it seems many European farmers remain unwilling to understand the NZ position.

Asked why New Zealand did not use its pasture-based farming and green image to market dairy products at a premium, Gent had to remind his audience that New Zealand was forced by protectionist policies in Europe and the United States to sell into second-tier markets that could not afford to pay premium prices.

Ironically it is Australasian producers that are held responsible for dragging down world prices.

New Zealand and Australia have a low-cost structure and, due to their large export volumes, dictate the world market price, said DeLaval chief executive Joakim Rosengren in his opening address.

But he recognised that subsidies were distorting the market.

The attitude of one French farmer illustrated what Fonterra and the New Zealand industry is up against.

After complaining about the complexity and bureaucracy of the quota system in France he was asked if he would prefer less regulation.

"We need less regulation in the French market and more regulation in the world market," he said.

Afterwards Gent was philosophical about the presentation. "It's an ongoing education process. A bit like dripping water on a stone."

But it was important to take every opportunity to get the message across.

New Zealand was one of five countries selected to present a case.

The presentations from Russia, France, Brazil and the US showed a wide variety of dairying methods - ranging from a high-tech operation for 4500 animals in Arizona to the small family farms in France, where the average herd size is just 32.

Hosted by multinational dairying equipment company DeLaval, the 3D conference is at Hamra, a research and development farm started by the company in 1894.

This conference marks 100 years since the company held its first international dairying conference at the site

* Liam Dann travelled to Sweden as a guest of DeLaval.