Anderton calls for primary produce revolution

Agriculture Minister Jim Anderton yesterday sent 300 of the nation's leaders in agribusiness, science and the environment home from his two-day primary industry summit with a call to revolution.

"There are strong opportunities ahead," he told the Christchurch conference. "But there needs to be a commitment from industry."

"I am willing to commit to those of you who are also willing to make a commitment to change the way the primary industries think and operate," said Mr Anderton, who repeatedly made it clear that next year's budget could be loaded with Government funding for industry sectors – particularly in terms of research.

"Leave here yesterday with a determination to change your organisation's mindset about investing in your people, in research and development and in innovation," Mr Anderton urged.

The minister said was surprised during an interactive session yesterday when delegates were asked to vote on the key to lifting New Zealand's primary production "game".

Given a choice of research and development, or entrepreneurship, or institutions and incentives, half the delegates voted for incentives, with the rest split between research and entrepreneurial behaviour.

A scientist at the conference, Professor Jacqueline Rowarth of Massey University, interjected, telling delegates that without the initial research, the institutions would have no data with which to work or earn incentives.

And Mr Anderton later said the choice from the top levels of the sector spoke volumes.

"If we truly believed in the value of research and development, or of entrepreneurship, then we wouldn't need any incentives or more institutional support than is currently available," he said. "This room is full of success stories of research and development, and entrepreneurship, that have paid dividends, but we still remain unconvinced of their value.

"We expect help from others – we expect the catalyst for change to come from outside of our own organisations".

The Government was willing to help, "now more than any time in a generation", and had a strong commitment to backing further research and development.

Mr Anderton said his call for the primary production sector to unite in boosting profitability, resilience and innovation had been favourably received, but reactions from individual delegates varied.

Brian Lynch, chairman of the Horticulture Export Authority, and a veteran of the meat industry, said it was a "pretty strong message", and was different to the emphasis that had previously been given to sectors of the economy outside farming, forestry and fisheries.

"When I first started in the meat industry in the 1990s, there was talk of agriculture being a sunset industry," he said. "Now the Government is getting people ready for a major infusions of effort and funding in the primary sector."

Tony Egan, another meat industry veteran who is chief executive of AsureQuality, said farmers recognised they were a small isolated country and that their small-to-medium sized businesses needed to work together to have sufficient scale in their exporting.

"It is a really positive sign that the Government is prepared to not only encourage investment but to persuade people to make their careers in the primary sector," he said.

And the sector was probably ready to turn away from the rampant commercialism of the 1990s and put more effort into partnerships and collaboration rather than rugged individualism.

LIC livestock genetics cooperative chairman Stuart Bay said it was "bizarre" the nation was turning out only 276 agricultural science graduates from universities this year to underpin its most important business sector, and he hoped the Government could help change perceptions of the sector.

And environmentalist Guy Salmon, executive director of Ecologic, said Mr Anderton's approach resembled the way that Nordic countries had recently been encouraging industry stakeholders to reach a consensus on things such as climate change policies before laws were changed.

But he questioned how much effort would be required in New Zealand where there was a history of "truculence" in the farm sector, and recent commentaries from the Federated Farmers lobby on greenhouse gases had been confrontational.

The strategy announced yesterday ranges widely, beyond directly boosting rural and marine-based production, to making better use of education and training, and to remedy under-investment by both government and industry in research and development for the nation's most innovative industries.

"The Government is willing to make science, skills and innovation in the food and pastoral industries a significant priority for next year's budget," Mr Anderton said. "We are prepared to make a step change in investment."

Delgates from agribusiness, fishing, forestry, research, Maori incorporations, biotech, major councils, environmentalists, tertiary education and training groups were told the two-day summit was the start of building value and a longterm strategic position in high value niches.

"For the foreseeable future, only the primary sector will deliver the returns we need to build wealth. . . if you care about New Zealand, you care about the strength of our primary industries," Mr Anderton said.

Mr Anderton said the primary sector also needed to attract the best and brightest school-leavers and graduates. The 1990s "bums on seats" model for education trained too many people in fashionable industries and too few in the industries that really mattered to New Zealand.

Primary industries needed to develop a culture of training and professional development, even though some parts of the industry had been dismissive of the role of training and professional development.

He also launched a Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry study warning technological advances, ageing consumers, shortages of clean water, geopolitical power shifts, rising energy costs, and climate change are driving significant change in the key export markets for New Zealand.

"The key for New Zealand will be to see these drivers of change as opportunities," he said: "The world is going to get short of the things we produce best."

"We are an isolated country able to supply an increasingly affluent and discerning global consumer with safe and sustainable premium goods".

But that good medium-to-longterm outlook will not happen automatically.

- NZPA