Rewarding farmers who embrace sustainability
Winners of DairyNZ’s Sustainability and Stewardship awards in the Ballance Farm Environment Awards have their eyes firmly fixed on progressing a positive future for New Zealand dairy.
He made the comments to Dairy News shortly after being re-elected to the DairyNZ board for another term at its annual general meeting in Te Awamutu last week. The Ohaupo farmer is highly likely to retain his chairmanship when the new DairyNZ board meets later this month.
He says sometimes it's easy to get bogged down by all the challenges the sector is facing, but he says it's important to keep a positive eye on the future and see all the good things that are happening.
At one stage there was talk that van der Poel would step down from the board, but he says one of the reasons for standing again was the fact that DairyNZ has a new chief executive, Campbell Parker, and his colleagues thought his standing for office again would ensure stability and continuity to the organisation.
"I was conscious of not wanting to outstay my welcome on the board but am very conscious of the need to make sure that there is room for the next generation to come through.
"There are still things that need to be done and one of the things I will ensure is that there is a good succession plan in place for when I do step aside," he says.
Jim van der Poel says farmer confidence is an issue, especially with the low farmgate milk price, which is below the breakeven point for many farmers, adding to the pressure, along with high cost inflation.
He says the recent Rabobank survey which showed farmer confidence at its lowest ever does not surprise him and says it aligns with DairyNZ's own cow shed survey.
"There is also a lot of uncertainty about what action a new government may take on several regulatory matters and how these might now be implemented. One of my main tasks if I am elected chair again will be to develop a positive relationship with new ministers with a view to resolving matters of great concern to dairy farmers," he says.
Van der Poel says regardless of who is the government of the day, the role of DairyNZ is to respect their policies but also to ensure that any outcomes do not disadvantage farmers or the industry.
He says with Parker coming in as the new CEO, this is the perfect time to look closely at DairyNZ and make sure that it is adding value to its members. He says the organisation has limited resources and there is an imperative to make sure that these are being allocated to projects that have the most benefit to dairy farmers.
