increase font size
Massey University’s Ralph Sims.
New Zealand farmers have the ability to reduce their energy use, but because it is not a priority for them they don’t do it.
That’s the view of Massey University’s professor Ralph Sims, a keynote speaker at the Feds annual conference. He was one of a number of speakers on a day devoted to ‘resilient agri-business’. Economists, trade representatives and food technology experts also spoke.
Sims coined the phrase ‘precision energy use’ – simply meaning not wasting energy on farms. He says because energy is relatively inexpensive and farmers have a lot of other things to worry about on their farms – such as animal health and having sufficient feed – energy efficiency is not on their radar.
“But when energy prices increase, and they will, and when there is a carbon charge on the energy so it increases even more – then there will be greater incentive to reduce energy use.
“The main energy use in modern farming systems is irrigation, heated greenhouses, tractors and dairy sheds. Horticulture has packing sheds and outside of the farm we are into processing and transport.”
Sims says a world trend, evident also in NZ, involves farmers generating their own energy and therefore less inclined to waste it. He says farmers could install solar panels on their dairy sheds to reduce their power bills and generally monitor how much power they use.
Another speaker, Dr Clair McGowan, chief executive of SODA, the small business incubator in Waikato, says it is important to get young people excited about science – especially agricultural science. McGowan believes NZ needs some science superstars to inspire young people to make a career in this field.
This happens in the IT sector and there is no reason why it can’t happen in ag science, she says. National Fieldays displayed a lot of great innovation and she wished more young people could have seen this.
Federated Farmers says new legislation replacing the Resource Management Act will cut red tape, unlock investment and help grow New Zealand's export-led economy, after the Planning Bill and Natural Environment Bill passed their third reading in Parliament yesterday.
Leading figures from the major political parties will be questioned on their primary sector policies at the Rural Issues Debate at Mystery Creek Events Centre, Hamilton, on 30 September.
Will the good times last? That's one of the key issues to come out of the latest Federated Farmers confidence survey.
Mid Canterbury Federated Farmers arable chair, Bevan Lill, said Beef + Lamb NZ data indicated that for the last six years, the average arable return on investment was about 0.8% while inflation ran about 4% - so the average arable farm was going backwards at about 3% a year.
For the first time in a quarter of a century, Federated Farmers has something positive to say about the Labour Party’s climate change policy leading into a general election.
LIC shareholders have elected a new North Island representative to the co-operative's Board, along with five representatives to its Shareholder Reference Group (SRG), following the company's Annual Meeting held in Invercargill.
Farmers across parts of Southland and South Otago are continuing to deal with difficult conditions after a prolonged run of wet weather, with pressure building around feed supply, stock management, pasture damage, farm infrastructure and everyday workloads.
Federated Farmers says it welcomes Labour's commitment to reviewing the Sharemilking Agreements Act, calling on other major parties to do the same.
For Canterbury dairy farmers Sian Meijer and Rick Wobben, wearable technology has become one of their most valuable on-farm tools - helping manage 1850 cows across an expansive, high-performing dairy operation while improving efficiency, mating outcomes and day-to-day decision making.
Fonterra has unveiled its annual results for the 2026 financial year, posting $27 billion in revenue and close to $20 billion returned to New Zealand farmer owners and unit holders.
The first major update to the Dairy Cattle Code of Welfare in more than a decade has been released, marking what DairyNZ describes as an important step in ensuring animal welfare standards continue to evolve alongside scientific evidence and on-farm realities.
