increase font size
Andrew Hoggard.
Farmers need to start asking companies to get behind existing technology to make life easier for farmers when it comes to data collection.
Recently in Federated Farmers we got asked to comment on whether we felt there should be any changes to the Statistics New Zealand’s annual production census.
A review is happening and our policy staff wanted feedback as to what farmers thought; some responded asking why they can’t pull the information from somewhere else.
This got me thinking about one of my pet hates: the amount of duplication that is out there with farmers needing to provide data to companies and agencies.
All these organisations that collect data likely think they’re only asking for a little, which will only take a few minutes, but when you add up all those requests for data it becomes a mountain of work.
When I think about the number of organisations or companies that want to know how many cows I have, it is actually quite a list.
My dairy company wants to know so it can plan for milk production and nitrogen recording. NAIT wants that information because that’s what they’re about and Statistics NZ wants to know.
My fertiliser company wants to know for nutrient budgeting, as well as the Overseer computer program, which unfortunately doesn’t inform the dairy company’s nitrogen recording system.
My regional council wants to know for effluent and stock drinking water consents. My accountant wants to know, because IRD wants to know, and so I need to enter it into my accountancy software. Beef + Lamb NZ wants to know so I get my allowed number of votes.
Finally I actually want to know, because it’s a useful piece of information to have for feed budgeting and financial budgeting purposes. So I have to enter it into my herd management software.
Chances are that none of those numbers provided above exactly match and the most accurate one is of course in my herd management software.
There are pan industry initiatives which would make life simpler by ticking a box that would allow information to automatically go to everyone who needs it if I agreed to it.
• Andrew Hoggard is Federated Farmers dairy chairman.
OPINION: Entering Parliament back in 2023, I wanted to help put the fun back in farming. After six years of Labour, rural New Zealand was tired of the relentless waves of red tape and compliance, draining joy from people who just want to work the land.
Academic Dr Mike Joy and his employer, Victoria University of Wellington have apologised for his comments suggesting that dairy industry CEOs should be hanged for contributing towards nitrate poisoning of waterways.
A comment by outspoken academic Dr Mike Joy suggesting that dairy industry leaders should be hanged for nitrate contamination of drinking/groundwater has enraged farmers.
The Government has struck a deal with New Zealand's poultry industry, agreeing how they will jointly prepare for and respond to exotic poultry diseases, including any possible outbreak of high pathogenicity avian influenza (HPAI).
OPINION: Newsroom is running a series of articles looking into the influence of lobbying and has kicked it off with agriculture.
Phoebe Scherer, a technical manager from the Bay of Plenty, has won the 2025 Young Grower of the Year national title.
The Fencing Contractors Association of New Zealand (FCANZ) celebrated the best of the best at the 2025 Fencing Industry Awards, providing the opportunity to honour both rising talent and industry stalwarts.
Award-winning boutique cheese company, Cranky Goat Ltd has gone into voluntary liquidation.
As an independent review of the National Pest Management Plan for TB finds the goal of complete eradication by 2055 is still valide, feedback is being sought on how to finish the job.
Beef + Lamb New Zealand has launched an AI-powered digital assistant to help farmers using the B+LNZ Knowledge Hub to create tailored answers and resources for their farming businesses.
A tiny organism from the arid mountains of mainland Greece is facilitating a new way of growing healthier animals on farms across New Zealand.
