Facts to Learn
- Arable production in New Zealand includes everything that is grown as a crop and harvested by a combine harvester.
- This includes crops such as cereals for human and animal feed, maize for grain and silage, grass and legume seeds for pasture and amenity, and high value vegetable seeds.
- Other farming systems use the word ‘crops’ to refer to short term fodder crops for livestock, for example fodder beet, kale etc. These are NOT arable crops (yes, that is confusing).
- Arable production is often combined with livestock (sheep, dairy); these are called mixed cropping/livestock farms.
- There are approximately 2800 arable growers in NZ growing crops on 180,000 hectares of land of which about 75,000 hectares is irrigated.
- The bulk of our arable production is centred in the Canterbury region although substantial production also occurs in Southland and in the North Island in the Wairarapa, Manawatu/Wanganui, Hawke’s Bay, Gisborne and Waikato.
- NZ produces 1,000,000 tonnes of grain each year.
- 88% of wheat, 66% of barley and 90% of herbage and vegetable seed is grown in Canterbury but the majority of maize grain is produced in the Waikato/Northland regions.
- Key arable products include flour, bread, pasta, baked goods, beer, seeds, oils, plant-based milk, plant protein, animal feed.
- Annual sales of arable products in New Zealand are approx. $940 million, with a 43% increase over the last four years.
- Annual direct and indirect spending associated with the industry is $2.5 billion.
- Annually, NZ exports approx. 45,000 tonnes of arable goods valued at $290 million.
Facts to Love
- NZ arable is one of the most diverse and resilient farming systems in the world.
- Arable growing has a low environmental footprint, contributing less than 1% of NZ’s greenhouse gas emissions.
- NZ arable growers are highly skilled and are literally the best in the world. NZ holds the Guinness world record yield for wheat (17.4tonnes/ha) and barley (13.8t/ha)
- We produce 40% of the world’s carrot seed, 60% of the world’s radish seed and 50% of the world’s white clover seed.
- The quality of the food, feed and seed that we produce is the envy of the rest of the world.
- We underpin NZ’s pastoral farming sector, worth more than $29b in annual exports
- by producing the seed for pasture establishment/renewal
- by producing the grain and silage for supplementary animal feed and
- by providing land for winter grazing and/or finishing.
- Most arable farms are family run, and many have been on the land for several generations.
- You can even thank arable farmers for your meat and cheese, as arable farms produce the seed to grow the grass that feeds our pastoral industries.
Facts to Lament
- Perversely, arable growers are paid more to produce grain to feed animals than grain to feed humans. Why?
- The milling wheat price is linked to global wheat prices
- Feed wheat is determined by NZ’s dairy milk prices
- Two thirds of NZ’s flour/bread products come from grain imported from Australia even though NZ grain is good quality and we can produce all of the country’s requirements. Why?
- Because Australia can grow thousands of hectares of grain, making it cheaper to produce.
- Because it costs more to transport South Island grain to North Island mills than it does to ship it over from Australia.
- Arable cropping is perceived to be a less attractive land use option than other sectors. Why?
- One dimensional economic criterion used (Gross margins, EBIT) that doesn’t take into account positive attributes such as low debt levels, low environmental pollution, high diversity and resilience.
- The NZ public has a relatively negative perception of irrigation because of its association with intensive dairy but it adds real value to arable farming. How?
- Irrigated crops yield substantially more than non-irrigated crops (greater returns per unit area of land) and are often better quality (less abiotic and biotic stress).
- Irrigation allows greater diversity of crops to be grown and a longer growing season.
- Irrigation improves soil quality, reduces N leaching, reduces drought stress and reduces soil erosion/sedimentation.
- Maori are poorly represented in the arable industry. Why?
- Attraction to higher earning sectors?
- Lack of knowledge about arable?
- Maori land is most hill and high country, and not suitable soils or terrain for arable.
Five Year Focus
- Being more efficient with fertilisers and ag chemicals
- Optimise water use efficiency
- Move towards minimum/no till cultivation (30% > 60%)
- Increase soil quality indicators across the industry
- Introduce new higher value crops into the arable rotation
- Maximize profitability with the lightest environmental touch
Where we want to be in the near future
- Two thirds of NZ’s bread/baked produce comes from NZ-grown grain.
- The extra 20-30c per loaf achieved for NZ provenance increases the profitability of NZ arable cropping to equal that of irrigated dairy.
- New added value crops (durum wheat, sunflower, hemp, pea protein, oat milk) provide opportunities for new niche export markets.
- The NZ dairy sector has replaced PKE with NZ grown grain and silage for complementary animal feed to deliver a truly NZ grown story to their export markets.
- The NZ poultry and pig industries embrace the use of NZ grown grain for animal feed to give consumers a 100% NZ provenance story.
- NZ livestock industries are integrating arable crops into their business to mitigate environmental pollution and create a more resilient and sustainable farming system.
- Encouraging more Maori enterprises to invest in arable.