Farming in the high tropics

The farm is located in the Narino region of south Colombia – 2800m above sea level. At that altitude close to the equator, the weather is very similar to the Waikato, rye grass and clover flourish, says Dairy Solutionz chief executive Derek Fairweather.
Fairweather says the development is part of an answer to the issue of global food security.

"Securing enough food to nourish growing populations around the world is one of the top priorities for many governments, and we believe one of the answers to the food security issue is harnessing the untapped benefits of the world's tropical environments."
In the Narino region of Colombia, about 40 per cent of GDP currently comes from the dairy industry and about 400,000 families nationwide rely on the dairy industry for their livelihoods.

However, European free trade deals pose a major threat to the local dairy sector which will find it hard to compete with imported product once the current 33 per cent tariffs are lifted over the next 10 years.

Fairweather said the development in Narino, Colombia will work towards helping local farmers and industry to become globally competitive.

"This will ensure there are major downstream benefits in terms of reducing poverty in the region and improving the local population's health and welfare status," he said.

"Working with the Government of Colombia, this demonstration farm is a tangible message of hope and sets a clear pathway as to how they can be competitive.

The next phase of the project will be to settle the conversion and establish the governance and stewardship of the farms in a very similar manner to the Lincoln Dairy farm and SIDDC partnership.

The demonstration farm, which uses entirely New Zealand design and technology, was funded by the Colombian government and Corpoica, the equivalent to AgResearch in New Zealand.
Corpoica chief executive Juan Lucas Restrepo is certain the farm will be the catalyst for a step change in the competiveness of the region.

"We look forward to and invite the partnership with New Zealand companies in supporting and adapting their intellectual property to the Colombian context.

"From experience to date, we all have something to learn and we have great potential to realise between our two countries," said Restrepo.