Thursday, 18 April 2019 09:55

Journey to sustainability will pay off

Written by  Pam Tipa
Rabobank chair Weibe Draijer addressing the “Farm 2 Fork” conference. Rabobank chair Weibe Draijer addressing the “Farm 2 Fork” conference.

Changing to a more sustainable method of farming will be “in the money” in the long term, but the transition years are uncertain for a traditional farmer, says Weibe Draijer, chairman of Rabobank’s managing board.

If there is a downside in the change phase, they will hesitate, which is understandable, he told Rural News at the Farm2Fork seminar in Sydney.

“Our role and our mission is to ask ‘okay, how can we limit the downside in the transition so you can do the investment and reap the benefits over the long term and survive the intermediate change period?’ ”

Draijer says New Zealand, Australia and the Netherlands have all gone through an amazing agricultural revolution, bringing them to the forefront of productivity and to their role in the global food supply. But what got them there will not win the next era; they need to change to more sustainable processes.

He says other countries face the same challenges, such as Brazil where the farmers have to stop felling the forests. 

“And it is the same in the Netherlands. I talk to dairy farmers who have to move to a less intensive use of the land… giving back some of the land to nature and going more in circular practices,” Draijer says.

“I think it would be the same in New Zealand. It is not so much that there is no money in the change but that there is uncertainty in the transition and that makes them nervous and rightly so. 

“It is on us to think through how we can take out the uncertainty and bring the stakeholders together, like the Government, to make sure they don’t add to the uncertainty -- which generally they do.

“To take away the uncertainty they need to give clarity and direction, they need to provide financial services to help them navigate that uncertain phase.”

Making the change is “in the money” already with consumer demand starting to move in that direction.

“Whenever you hear farmers say ‘it is not economically viable’, that is just not true. In some part of the changes it might be, but a number of changes will put them to the fore.” 

Draijer spoke earlier at the conference about the need to reduce food waste.

Asked how to achieve buy-in by farmers for that, he said farmers would much rather their food be eaten than lost. An example is tomatoes: growers are incentivised by the system to throw away those not ideal-looking. 

“If we adopt a system where [the imperfect-looking] are more acceptable they would get more revenue. Whether it is bananas or apples or pears there is a lower-value use; if you could bring higher value and get paid for it they would benefit,” he explains.

“Waste can go to feedstock for animals, which is fine, but it can be used for higher value.”

More like this

NZ household food waste falls again

Kiwis are wasting less of their food than they were two years ago, and this has been enough to push New Zealand’s total household food waste bill lower, the 2025 Rabobank KiwiHarvest Food Waste survey has found.

Featured

$2b boost in NZ exports to EU

New Zealand’s trade with the European Union has jumped $2 billion since a free trade deal entered into force in May last year.

US tariffs hit European ag machinery markets

The climate of uncertainty and market fragmentation that currently characterises the global economy suggests that many of the European agricultural machinery manufacturers will be looking for new markets.

Tributes paid to Jim Bolger

Dignitaries from  all walks of life – the governor general,  politicians past and present, Maoridom- including the Maori Queen, church leaders, the primary sector and family and  friends packed Our Lady of Kapiti’s Catholic church in Paraparaumu on Thursday October 23 to pay tribute to former prime Minister, Jim Bolger who died last week.

National

Machinery & Products

» Latest Print Issues Online

The Hound

Red faced

OPINION: The Greens have taken the high moral ground on the Palestine issue and been leading political agitators in related…

Cold comfort

One of the most galling aspects of the tariffs whacked on our farm exports to the US is the fact…

» Connect with Rural News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter