Get innovations out of queues and into farmers' hands

Animal and Plant Health New Zealand chief executive Liz Shackleton says that the association’s members have innovative products waiting for approval that will address some of agriculture’s greatest challenges: responding to a changing climate, biosecurity incursions, resistance issues and export trade requirements.

“These innovations don’t belong in a queue, they belong in the hands of our pioneering farmers, growers, biosecurity and conservation personnel,” Shackleton says.

“We applaud efforts to streamline and modernise the approval process. Our regulators have an important role as gatekeepers of these products, and we support efforts to help them in this role.

“This review gives us the opportunity to pave future pathways. We look forward to working with our regulators and government to speed up approving innovative products so that our country can go forth, grow, protect, adapt and prosper,” says Shackleton.

At the Fieldays, the Government announced a regulatory sector review on the approval process for new agricultural and horticultural products.

Regulation Minister David Seymour says red tape stops farmers and growers from getting access to products that have been approved by other OECD countries.

“It can take nine years and wrangling government agencies to get approval here,” says Seymour.

“Farmers overseas are using innovative technologies that we don’t have access to that make animals emit less methane, make fruit and vegetable plants grow faster, and control pests and diseases with less environmental harm.

“If we don’t remove these barriers to productivity, we will fall behind our global competitors when we need to grow the economy through trade.”

The review will be welcomed by companies like Royal DSM, which produces Bovaer, a feed additive that enables farmers to achieve a significant and immediate reduction of the environmental footprint of meat, milk, and dairy products. DSM claims that on average it reduces enteric methane emissions by 30% from dairy cows and 45% from beef cattle.

The company expects that by the end of this calendar year, 17 out of the top 20 global dairy companies will have the ability to use Bovaer in their home markets if they choose to do so. Unfortunately, Fonterra is likely not one of those 17, it says.

DSM applied for approval of 3-NOP (the active ingredient in Bovaer) in February 2021, to the Environmental Protection Authority. In August 2023, the EPA approved DSM’s application to import and manufacture 3-NOP. MPI is responsible for the next step — assessing the substance before it can be used on farms. They have yet to receive an application from DSM.

According to the EPA, Bovaer is a trade name product with a specific composition that it has not assessed for on farm use.

The concentrations of 3-NOP approved by the EPA are restricted for use in manufacturing facilities only, they are not end-use products (for use on farm or by farmers) as that wasn’t part of DSM’s application.

“The EPA is working closely with MPI on the regulation of methane (and nitrogen) inhibitors, with the aim of streamlining the EPA’s application and assessment process for these substances.”

Federated Farmers arable section chair David Birkett says Bovaer is approved as safe for animals, farmers and consumers in more than 55 countries, including the EU, Australia, Canada and Switzerland.

“But our farmers can’t use it.”