We’re one people
Released 29 Jul 2011
Bruce Wills is the President of Federated Farmers
I may be the new Federated farmers National President, but there's nothing like getting your hands dirty to keep your feet firmly on the ground. Having spent quite a few days recently crutching sheep, my feet are well and truly planted. My goal here is to share some of agriculture's successes and challenges with you. Sometimes you'll disagree with what I write; feel free to let me know. Most of the time, I hope, you'll see that I've made a good point.
I am my own man and the new Federated Farmers national board may be greener than it has been previously, but as Rod Oram recently pointed out, it's chock full of talent. Rod takes a strong interest in agriculture and that's fantastic. We need more people to take an interest in what we do on-farm because town and country are not dissimilar. To attract talented younger people into farming, it's key that farming is both commercially and environmentally sustainable. Farming is a rewarding career where no two days are the same. Yes, at times things get tough, but for the most part it's magic.
Career paths into the agricultural sector, whether on-farm, in a research laboratory or the factory floor, are vital. As an island nation, we cannot feed the world, but we can feed 20 million outside of New Zealand very well. Within the next four decades, we hope to feed even more people as farmers adopt new technologies created by scientists and researchers. With a biotechnologist as my Vice-President, it's safe to say we see innovative research as the hinge on the economy's door. Science unlocks a better future, not just for farmers, but for manufacturers, our creative sector and the environment we all share.
China and India also need our agricultural expertise and that creates access for ‘NZ Inc' into their farm system. Toyota now produces half of its vehicles outside of Japan, but has mostly reserved production of Lexus, its marquee brand, in Japan. New Zealand could do the same; retaining production of premium products at home and exporting high quality agricultural services. Unbelievably, the export of services from the agricultural sector makes up only 0.1 percent of New Zealand's services exports, compared to 71 percent of New Zealand's physical exports. Imagine if we harnessed our agricultural know-how to create global agriservices counterparts to what we do on-farm. Instead of importing agricultural machinery, electronics and agrimedicines, we could instead develop, make and export them. Sir Paul Callaghan has rightly labelled this sort of thinking as 100% Smart.
Working smarter includes the environment. As the Federation's President, I will not excuse the actions of anyone who wilfully damages our environment. As a Federation and as an industry, it's on us to show poorer performing farmers the benefits of stewardship. However, the law must apply equally to farmers, businesses and councils. As the chairperson of the East Coast Ballance Farm Environmental Awards and the New Zealand Poplar and Willow Research Trust, I've seen the inspirational work many farmers are doing on-farm. I often feel like shouting "look at this". Perhaps, now is the right time to start a discussion about how to reward the farmers who go above and beyond the minimum on protecting the environment.
There's a lot for me and the Federated Farmers team to do in the next 12 months. The Kiwi farmer has an important part to play in the prosperity of our country, but we need the support of our rural towns and the cities to achieve a shared prosperity. Email: bwills@fedfarm.org.nz
