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OPINION: This old mutt hears that the voices of dissent in sheep and beef farming circles are growing louder about what they believe is the (non) performance of Beef + Lamb NZ - especially its top executive and CEO Sam McIvor.
Commenting on the launch of a new book, Get Off the Grass: Kickstarting New Zealand's Innovation Economy, by Shaun Hendy and Paul Callaghan, DairyNZ chief executive Tim Mackle says dairying in New Zealand has not been 'backed' at the expense of other sectors.
"Its export value has grown by 83% in the last 10 years because our industry is innovative, resilient and highly competitive," he says. "And I agree that diversifying our economic base is important," says Mackle.
"Some of the research I've seen points to the importance of cities and regions being powerful drivers of knowledge economies. They are associated with significant productivity gains and innovation and high densities of businesses in related industries. The new Lincoln Agri Hub that DairyNZ is a part of is an agricultural response to that for Christchurch and Canterbury. There is a food one in Palmerston North and we are looking to develop a hub in the Waikato too," he says.
"DairyNZ has also cooperated with Auckland University in a partnership to drive the connections between the highly-skilled and globally mobile workforces in our largest city with the agricultural economy.
"It's about leveraging off each other – not getting out of one and into another to kickstart innovation as the title of this new book suggests.
"Economically-successful cities and regions are clear and focused about their competitive advantages. Policy and its delivery are aligned with these advantages. Taranaki's regional economic success is an example of that and so is the Waikato. Canterbury is also seeing dairy as part of its current and future strength," says Mackle.
"We need better collaboration between business, industry, education and research organisations. We also need co-ordinated planning and investment to address the growth needs in areas of competitive advantage. DairyNZ is working very hard in that area by aligning our industry much closer to the Crown Research Institutes, universities and other educational facilities.
"I think we can use the strength of the dairy sector to really drive better connections and diversification between regional and city economies. Hamilton for example is an important centre for commercialising innovations because of its private and public research and development, particularly in areas such as agri-bio and science technology.
"Local firms have also built expertise in steel manufacturing for the dairy industry that they are now transferring to aviation and other sectors," says Mackle.
"Through the strength and growth of the dairy sector, metals manufacturing activity in the Waikato is now serving both the national and international market having developed from support activities serving dairying and milk production."
