Farmers from the state’s Western District have been “blown away” by the productivity they saw at New Zealand farms and agribusinesses they visited on a nine-day tour.
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More than a dozen cropping, beef and sheep producers jumped at the opportunity to tour some of New Zealand’s most progressive farms and agribusinesses.
Hosted by agribusiness banking specialist Rabobank, in conjunction with fertiliser distributor Vickery Bros, the group was given a rare insight into operations in both the North and South Islands.
The tour included visits to large-scale irrigated dairy farms, fertiliser and pasture seed trials, grazing enterprises, a new dairy processing factory and an undercover goat dairy.
The tour also incorporated the National Agricultural Fieldays at Mystery Creek, dubbed the “biggest agricultural trade show in the southern hemisphere” with more than 1000 exhibitors.
Mark Jarvis, who produces grain and sheep at Aramis, Balmoral, had never seen the NZ farming sector first-hand.
“I had always heard about how they do things over there with highly productive ag systems, but I had never seen their farming operations for myself,” he said.
“Blown away by their productivity”, Mr Jarvis said he was impressed by how much grass farmers grow in New Zealand and how they measure their productivity.
“They utilise every piece of grass,” he said, “by grazing their livestock in small areas cordoned off with hot wires, which they move by small increments of around 10 metres each day – which demonstrates the level of precision in their business.”
Mr Jarvis said while high rainfall and strong reliance on inputs (namely fertiliser) underpinned Kiwi farmers’ production systems, as well as the need to generate returns on their asset (with NZ farming land selling for up to $40,000 per hectare), there was much he could take away and implement into his own farming business.
“The tour really emphasised the importance of measuring production and knowing your figures. While this is something we do well in the cropping side of our business, we could monitor it more closely in our sheep enterprise in terms of pasture utilisation,” he said.
“Their irrigation schemes were also of interest, with gravity-fed systems to drive irrigation pivots (rather than pumps), and we also saw some highly productive beet and kale crops for winter feeding cows and sheep – which produce around 25 tonnes of dry matter per hectare.”
Mr Jarvis said the opportunity to travel to New Zealand with other farmers from his district was also a key benefit of the tour.
“Just to sit on the bus and talk shop was invaluable, as it was interesting to hear what others took away from the visits and share insights and knowledge,” he said.
Tour co-leader Rabobank Hamilton branch manager Sam Dohle said the group members were “taken outside their comfort zone by visiting farming operations vastly different to their own”.
“This challenged all of us to look at what we are doing back home and how we can adapt best practice and innovation into our own operations,” Mr Dohle said.
“While none of us will be running out and drastically changing our businesses, we have a greater appreciation for how others do things and we all came home feeling motivated to try new things.”
With the group of Western District farmers now returned home, Mr Dohle said the tour participants were keen to visit each other’s farming operations as part of a reunion tour.