Government, business and farmers to learn sustainability lessons
Released 06 Sep 2011
James Houghton is the Federated Farmers Waikato provincial president.
I am astounded at some of the exorbitant prices being charged by some businesses now the Rugby World Cup is around the corner.
The World Cup may be a one off event, but treating it simply as a money grab is not sustainable thinking.
As a farmer and businessman myself, I am keen to see all industries operate a tight ship and turn a decent profit. However, farmers are starting to learn that business success in the long term is tied to sustainability and some stories of commercial greed in the news lately indicate not all industries have learnt that lesson.
The Rugby World Cup has seen some hoteliers hike rates and add additional charges and conditions on previously loyal customers, in order to turn a fast buck.
While they might be operating strictly within the rules of supply and demand, the wisdom of charging quadruple the normal prices for a room in a hotel is shortsighted to say the least. Look at the publicity hit Adidas has taken over the All Black rugby shirt price debacle.
I guess this sort of profiteering off rugby fans and tourists should have been expected. After all, the key argument on the benefits of hosting the tournament was the potential income boost for our hospitality industry.
Two thoughts though. Firstly, if the World Cup is such an opportunity to showcase our country, and hospitality industry, to the world, shouldn't that industry be taking care the customers don't go home with stripped out pockets and a bad taste in their mouths.
Secondly and, as a farmer, much more importantly, is the huge cost of hosting this event and others like it, worth the massive risk they pose to our bio-security status?
The potential cost of a foot and mouth clean up would dwarf any net economic gain the country will receive over the next couple of months, and the damage to NZ Inc's ‘clean, green' branding would be incalculable. Almost as bad, would be the incursion of a new bee disease, which could be the final straw for the bee industry which every farmer in this country directly or indirectly benefits from.
The profiteering message seems to be coming from the top, however, with a number of State Owned Enterprises posting huge profits this week.
I know I have called on some nationalised corporations to start running their businesses as if they were, well businesses, but if Mighty River Power and other state owned power-co's can make profits in excess of $160 million off the people who own them, there is something wrong.
Have power companies become an indirect form of government revenue collection, or is the government trying make the companies look super attractive ahead of the post-election sell down of these assets?
Either way, I believe the people of this country are paying too much for their electricity and maybe the government needs to include the word ‘sustainable', in all its wonderful incarnations, into state owned enterprises' manifestos.
Finally, while most farmers might be applying the sustainability message to certain aspects of their farming businesses, there are plenty of ways we can pull our socks up further. One way would be to invest in stand off feed pads for stock.
I have been seeing too many farms employ practices such as leaving feed trailers in races for stock to eat directly from. This might be okay as a quick fix for a week or 10 days, but what starts out as a temporary measure soon becomes permanent.
If farmers feel they are doing damage to their pasture they need to consider permanent solutions. Although these can be expensive, they have long term benefits. These decisions need to be made shortly so farmers can go through the proper process to build something that will be an asset on the farm, not a liability.
Whichever way you look at it, environmental or economic, farmers need to operate as a modern business. The old "she'll be right" attitude just won't cut the mustard anymore.
