Cam Heggie
What drew you into agriculture?
I love working outdoors and being part of the “Backbone” industry of New Zealand.
What excites you about each day? What gets you up in the morning?
Knowing it is going to be different to yesterday.
I may be doing something similar to the day before but it will definitely be different and I will be working with good buggers.
What’s the best thing about your industry?
The People.
The people in all parts of the agricultural industry are fantastic.
Down to earth, friendly and very supportive.
Plus the livestock, I never see bad livestock
What’s the biggest challenge your industry is facing – right now, or into the future?
Land use change. We have lost so much land to forestry that it’s sad. Driving around the country and seeing beautiful hill country properties covered in pine trees.
It’s destroying communities.
What would you like non-farmers to know about your role/industry?
That farmers are the biggest environmentalists there are.
Planting trees, wetland projects, river care groups, retiring land and donating land to the QEII trust.
The care they give to their animals that people don’t see behind the farm gate.
What are you most proud of?
The company and the people that I work with and the relationships that are built between them and clients.
They are dedicated individuals who work in a team to help make farmers more profitable.
If you had just three words to describe Kiwi farmers, what would they be?
Innovative, experts, resilient (I hate that word but it’s true).
Who inspires you?
My colleagues.
Seeing them do well in what they do motivates me to be better and to complement them as much as I can.
What is the moment/memory that makes you most proud to be a farmer?
I love that NZ farmers are the best in the world at what they do and wish that they would be recognised as such.
Especially by those who are always trying to knock them down.
Do you ever feel sad or disillusioned about being a farmer?
Yes! Prices - we are still selling to a commodity market yet our grass-fed, low-input, low-carbon, high-quality sheep and beef products are better than that and I wish they could be marketed as such — and wool.
Wool is the best material in the world, but unfortunately, the world doesn’t know about it.
What should agriculture’s priorities be?
To educate.
We have wonderful products in a clean green New Zealand and we should be pushing that fact.
What’s the biggest opportunity for New Zealand’s primary industries?
A growing population means the world will need more food.
Even though we are a very small part of the food supply chain I think NZ could benefit greatly if we position ourselves to do so.
This coupled with agritech, the possibilities are immense.
This also means we need to stop the current land use change.
What is your wish for agriculture?
To be recognised by others that we are the best in the world.
For farmers and farming to be thought of as a great industry.
For a stop to be put on planting swathes of land into pine trees.
What does our landscape mean to you?
Our landscape is the best.
I think I’m one of a small group of people that actually appreciate what we have.
In my travels, I often stop and just take in the sights, rivers, beaches, forests and bush, even sunsets and sunrises.
I just love it
What do you like to do in your spare time?
I make hill (stock, hiking) sticks, do a bit of amateur photography, caravaning with my wife and spend as much time with family as we can.
