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outgoing DairyNZ chair Jim van der Poel.
OPINION: While dairy farmers were busy milking cows last Wednesday morning, 150 leaders and stakeholders of the industry gathered at Parliament over breakfast to celebrate their achievements.
Apart from featuring some delicious dairy products, the gathering heard that the sector is New Zealand’s largest goods exporter, delivering around one in every four export dollars.
The stats are impressive: strong and steady milksolid production – tracking up per cow and per hectare for the last 24 years; and provider of almost 55,000 jobs – 38,000 on farm, 16,000 in processing and a significant contributor to regional gross domestic product (GDP).
Speaking at the event, Ohaupo dairy farmer and outgoing DairyNZ chair Jim van der Poel acknowledged a special group who were not in the room – farmers and rural communities.
Without them none of this would be possible, noted van der Poel.
The primary sector contributes 81% of NZ exports and dairy accounts for 45% of that number. But as van der Poel pointed out, with size comes responsibility.
As the biggest exporter of goods in the country, the sector must look outwards to markets, but day-to-day it must remain grounded in communities.
The breakfast was attended by politicians from different parties. It gave industry leaders another opportunity to further strengthen relationships across the political spectrum, critical to the sector’s future success.
Let’s hope last week’s breakfast has strengthened the appetite for politicians to work with dairy farmers and develop policies that will promote farming, not hinder growth.
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