Patrick Crawshaw: Beef + Lamb NZ’s Farmer Feedback sessions inform policy positions

Beef + Lamb New Zealand’s national Farmer Feedback sessions have just finished. Photo / Sarah Ivey

OPINION

Farmer Feedback sessions and online surveys help Beef + Lamb NZ focus on the future, writes B+LNZ Eastern North Island farmer director, Patrick Crawshaw.

The last of Beef + Lamb New Zealand’s national Farmer Feedback sessions have been held, ending several weeks of informal farmer meetings.

These meetings were held at more than 50 locations across New Zealand and the organisation will now be collating and reporting back on the feedback it has received.

It will also be communicating what actions will be taken as a result.

This information will help inform other areas of focus.

These include reviews of the role of B+LNZ’s Farmer Council, B+LNZ’s approaches to advocacy and consultation and whether the organisation should remain in the He Waka Eke Noa partnership.

On the back of these meetings, we are renewing our efforts to use a variety of ways of consulting with our farmers and gathering feedback.

These include the online surveys that have recently been used to gauge farmer response to the proposed ETS reforms and changes to the low-slope map for stock exclusion.

Hundreds of farmers have taken the opportunity to complete these surveys and their time is really appreciated.

As a Board, we have some key positions to take with government consultations in the next few weeks and the feedback we have received through these surveys and the Farmer Feedback sessions will help inform this process.

This late winter, early spring period is always a challenging time on-farm as we get to the bottom of the feed curve, with feed demand about to increase exponentially.

As farmers, we need to make sure we are looking after ourselves and our staff as well as our stock.

Recovery from last summer’s cyclones is going to be a long and multi-faceted process and there is a real danger of burn-out if we don’t take care of ourselves.

This is going to be a marathon, not a sprint.

We all have our unique challenges, but I encourage farmers to take the time to plan and the opportunity to make improvements where possible.

We all have slightly frustrating infrastructure or parts of the farm that, in the past, we couldn’t justify the expense of improving.

Now could be the time to make those upgrades.

It might be a repairs and maintenance expense in the Profit + Loss statement but make it as much of a capital expenditure as practical.

We have to spend the money, so better to spend it well. We need to make silver linings from those clouds.

There is still Government funding available to help with the removal of silt and debris across Hawke’s Bay and Tairāwhiti. Applications close on August 31, so go to the Ministry for Primary Industries website for details.

As part of my role representing farmers on the Board of B+LNZ, I recently had a meeting with Māori Agribusiness Te Tairāwhiti to understand their needs and how we can better interact with their concerns.

It was a positive meeting and I look forward to working with our manawhenua over the next few years.