This week Fife arable farmer Gordon Rennie writes about the recent visit of Alison Stewart the chief executive of the Foundation of Arable Research organisation New Zealand. Alison Stewart is a "Glasgow girl," born in Kirkintilloch, who attended the University of Glasgow, earning a degree in Botany.
She then pursued a PhD at the University of Stirling in Plant Pathology. Struggling to find a job in the UK, Alison moved to New Zealand in 1979 to take up a lecturing role at Auckland University, specialising in sustainable crop production practices. After building up a large research group while there, her next move in 1985 was to Christchurch and Lincoln University. There, she headed a Centre of Excellence in sustainable agricultural systems.
Following the Christchurch Earthquake in 2011, Alison moved to California to lead a Biotech company and learned a lot about how to commercialize biological products, especially bio-pesticides and bio-stimulants. After three years, the allure of New Zealand was too strong, so she moved back to head up the Forest Research Unit in Rotorua. In 2018, Alison was appointed as the new CEO of the Foundation of Arable Research (NZ), based in Christchurch.
FAR was established 27 years ago through the Commodities and Levy Act, with funding primarily coming from 2,800 arable farmers and forage maize growers. The total levy income is just under £3 million, which is leveraged up to around £9 million through multi-sector collaboration research programs. The board governing FAR is selected by regional grower members.
Growers hold significant decision-making authority, especially since every 5 to 6 years they can vote to dissolve FAR. However, this year's referendum showed an 88% majority in support of FAR. FAR is solely funded by its levy payers and does not accept any income from commercial companies. Instead, FAR conducts its trials and research, free from the influence of global agchem companies or government agencies.
I have had the pleasure of being a guest speaker at several FAR field days and have witnessed firsthand how much farmers enjoy and learn. We had well over 40 farmers attend the oat growers field day this March in Gore, Southland. It is no wonder that so many oats are grown that far south, as the climate is more akin to that of Scotland.
New Zealand growers have an excellent CEO in Alison, for whom I had the pleasure of arranging some fantastic local visits when she was our guest. Her breadth of practical knowledge quickly became apparent as I sat in on meetings with Colin Campbell of the James Hutton Institute, Stewart Arbuckle of Agrecarbon, and Jim Wilson of Soil Essentials.
Back in NZ and under Alison's leadership, the 40-strong FAR team delivers outstanding research through field days, conferences, newsletters, and podcasts. With so many new novel products coming into the market, FAR is well-positioned to distinguish the wheat from the chaff.
When I asked Alison about the main challenges facing farmers, they turned out to be much the same as here in Scotland. High input costs, such as fertiliser, pesticides, and fuel, combined with static farm gate prices, put pressure on farm incomes.
The most significant difference is that NZ farmers do not receive any government support. It may sound counterintuitive, but the great strength of NZ farming is the fact that they do not have to waste endless hours on form-filling and compliance, fund an army of consultants, and impose additional taxes on civil servants who have to administer and police subsidies.
Speaking to Alison, I get the impression that it is not the NZ government's job to prop up unprofitable businesses. The most profitable farmers will be able to navigate these challenges, although some farmers may have to exit the industry. It may come as no surprise that kiwi farmers are not distracted by organizations like "Red Tractor," "LEAF," or "Agrecalc." In any case, NZ already has the highest food standards and exports worldwide, complying with the most stringent markets like Japan and China.
Having stated that farmers receive no subsidies, the government does step in when there are natural disasters, such as major earthquakes or typhoons. NZ's economy still relies on farming exports, with agriculture accounting for 5% of GDP or NZ $12 billion.
What has impressed me so much when attending FAR field days is the attention to detail that is essential when the only game in town is how to lower the cost of production or increase output. If we look at Nitrogen, for example, FAR has developed the Nitrogen mass budget method to determine how much N fertiliser should be applied to the crop to achieve its potential yield.
This requires a mineral N test, which provides immediate available N, and the anaerobic mineralizable N test to estimate the supply of N from the mineralization of organic N in the soil. While this may sound good in theory, FAR technical farmer groups have helped make it work in practice.
Farmers in Scotland can take advantage of the excellent FAR Podcast called "Cut the Crop." There is something for everyone, from "Are short-term cover crops worthwhile?" to "Getting the most out of biologicals."
I must also give credit to AHDB, which arranged a meeting and dinner at my local pub, the Ship Inn. I was delighted that Dave Bell, Allan Bowie, and Ken Boyns of AHDB joined Alison and me for a most enjoyable supper and a great discussion on how we may learn from and work together with FAR going forward. I was rather pleased that this friendly encounter between Scotland, England, and New Zealand took place a few days before the Rugby World Cup Final!
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