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Nathan Guy.
With modern technology your farm’s customers are only a smartphone call away, Primary Industry Minister Nathan Guy says.
We are taking primary products to 140 countries and consumers are a lot closer than they ever were before.
He was speaking at a field day at the Helensville farm of Richard and Dianne Kidd, winners of the 2016 National Ballance Farm Environment Award. The Kidds and six other farmers are involved in premium brand Kaipara lamb, sold through Countdown supermarkets.
“It won’t be long before Kaipara lamb will have the barcode at the chiller; they will scan that and up will pop a little video of you on your farm saying ‘here are my lambs, this is when I drench them, this is when a crutch them, here is my property, this is what I do to look after the environment’. Creating that story and selling that product has to be worth a premium,” says Guy.
“There are costs in lifting our total environmental performance, but there are benefits… thinking about the consumers on the other side of the world who are a lot closer than they once were.”
Guy said the field day had shown environmental stewardship and excellent performance of livestock, “on a farm right on the edge of our largest city. This farm and others close to cities and towns can build the connectivity between urban and rural.”
About 70% of Auckland land is in agriculture, horticulture and forestry; about $2.4 billion of the region’s earnings come from the primary sector.
“Aucklanders should be thankful for what you do, providing wonderful food to the largest city in New Zealand.”
The recent East Coast Farming Expo, held over two days at Wairoa, offered an insight into the current state of agriculture on the east of the North Island, at a time when the locals are remembering the second anniversary of Cyclone Gabrielle.
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