Sarah's Country

This week in agri-politics Sarah catches up with Minister for Agriculture Damien O'Connor, on a variety of topics.

She starts on his announcement for a multi-million dollar drought relief package to assist many farmers & rural communities.

Then we get his thoughts on the the Winter Grazing Taskforce's recommendation now being dissected for feedback by his newly released Winter Grazing Working Group featuring many experts across the sector.

The food and agriculture industry is a hugely complex business ecosystem.

There is much discussion happening in New Zealand’s food and fibre’s future suggesting we need more diversity of our New Zealand farms to protect the environment.

One of New Zealand’s prominent farming leaders is with Sarah in studio, Maury Leyland-Penno who alongside her husband John are investing across a whole range of businesses that we think will help us make the shift we need to make in our primary sector.

Sarah catches up with Maury to discuss her opinions around singular land uses and its impact on our resources and how regenerative agriculture could lead to better environmental outcomes.

Maury also shares her opinions on gender equality in the agriculture sector at both an executive and farm level.

If the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s) are met, how would this influence the New Zealand agrifood value chain and the nation’s price in it?

This is the question that will be poised next Wednesday at the AgResearch’s Our Food, Our Future speakers to challenge and debate.

How we can use them to proudly continue to build our own agrifood brand in New Zealand.

Joining Sarah is one of those speakers and an expert in the UN’s SDG’s, Samantha Leonard.

Samantha gives her thoughts on sustainability and the need to change the way economic growth is approached, environmental respect and human behavioural change.

She also shares her vision what a utopia will look like in 10 years time when the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s) are met.

Samantha will be speaking at the New Zealand AgriFood Week to find out more information:

nzagrifoodweek.co.nz

A new initiative recently launched, Calm The Farm, is about helping farmers to transition to regenerative agriculture management and to be able to help them reduce inputs and improve their environment and wellbeing.

Co-founder and acting chief executive Mike Taitoko and his Toha Foundry team have just launched and since have had huge farmer demand for their concept of bringing environmental philanthropy investment to the needs of debt-burden farmers.

The fund had already raised money and linked with farmers who were keen to make changes to their production systems.

It had also teamed up with farm advisers and researchers who recommend regenerative agriculture and would organise field days for people who were interested.

For more information check out:

www.calmthefarm.nz/

Following a recent Innovation Series event at Blinc Workshop at Lincoln University, Sarah spent some time afterwards with Silver Fern Farms Limited's Co-Chair, Rob Hewett.

She discussed where the value-add meat processor is going with their strategy to bring more transparency into their supply chain.

Sarah also took the opportunity to chat to Rob about everything from farmers adoption of data technologies, gender inequality on agriculture boards and our national food inequality as we focus on value-add (#feedourfirstfivemillion).

To watch the video of Rob's presentation : https://www.blincinnovation.com/upcoming-events/food-transparency-and-trust

A favourite saying of ol' Grandad CR Perriam was 'whiskey's for drinking, waters for fighting'. Nothings changes since the fight between gold miners and farmers in Central Otago in the 1800's till now.

We have never had so much technology at our fingertips to preserve water in human history, so it's more about a social license for every drop.

This week in Sarah's Country we discover the exploding future of 'super-foods' grown from algae in water with Justin Hall from Tahi Spirulina, NZ's first spirulina farm on how this diversified plant-based market is on fire.

Sarah Perriam, the host of Sarah's Country, is this week joined by guest co-host Sarah O’Connell, Facilitator & Extension, The AgriBusiness Group.

Sarah also discusses the impact of irrigation on soil water holding capacity with Sam Carrick & Veronica Penny of Maanaki Whenua - Landcare Research, asks Todd Muller, National Party Spokesman for Agriculture and celebrates the success of the Open Farms day with founder Daniel Eb.

Guests on this week’s show:

• 1. THE VALUE OF PRODUCING SUPERFOODS: Tahi Spirulina CEO, Justin Hall.
• 2. SUCCESS OF OPEN FARMS DAY: Open Farms Day founder, Daniel Eb.
• 3. IRRIGATIONS AFFECT ON SOIL: Manaaki Whenua - Landcare Research’s Sam Carrick & Veronica Penny.
• 4. WILL NATIONAL ABORT M.BOVIS ERADICATION: National Party Spokesman for Agriculture, Todd Muller.

This week in agri-politics Sarah catches up with National Party spokesman for Agriculture, Todd Muller, on a variety of topics.

She starts on his thoughts about the establishment of a Water Commission to depoliticise water debates.

Then we get his thoughts on the government's committment to eradicating the cattle disease Mycoplasma Bovis and ask will National abort this plan if in government?

Sarah finds out about Todd's confidence in the incoming CEO of OSPRI in the heat of the latest TB outbreak in Hawkes Bay.

And finally as spokesman for forestry, how will National balance our goals to reduce carbon emissions whilst protecting valuable food producing land.

Sarah's Country this week "Future of our food" segment she learns more about Aotearoa’s first Spirulina farm off the small coastal community of Himatangi beach in the North Island of New Zealand. The sustainable superfood is grown in purpose-built shallow ponds, our algae are fed salts and water and harvested in heartlands Manawatu.

CEO for Tahi Spirulina Justin Hall explains why he is a supporter of NZ agriculture and horticulture, but feels NZ is way off the pace relative to the rest of the world in terms of food, nutrition and health products from algae. 

Justin also gives his thoughts on how New Zealand farmers and growers should be thinking about integrating plant based products into their business model even though he believes red meat has a safe and prosperous future.

Justin Hall is a speaker at the AgResearch ‘Our Food, Our Future’ as part of NZ AgriFood Week in Palmerston North.

For more information: https://nzagrifoodweek.co.nz/events/agresearch-presents-our-food-our-future/

As we farm into the future with climate change, irrigation becomes a lifeline for many regions to distribute water sparingly onto pasture and crops most efficiently. Irrigation development has grown 3 fold since the 1950’s with now 33% of the world's crops irrigated.

We know the value of irrigation but we need to continue to research the impacts of irrigation on things such as nitrogen loss and soil carbon.  

Research funded by the Sustainable Food & Fibre Futures fund has allowed our next guests to measure soil physical properties under irrigation across a range of soil types.

Manaaki Whenua - Landcare Research research team Veronica Penny & Sam Carrick explain the results of their latest projects.

Over 40 farms of all types and sizes participated in the Open Farms Day on the 1st March, from high-country sheep stations in Otago to dairy farms in the Waikato and even an indoor, vertical microgreens producer in Wellington, to name a few.  

Sarah catches up with founder Daniel Eb on the success of the event with over 5,000 visitors and the great feedback from urban New Zealanders wanting to reconnect their families with how food is grown.

For more information visit : www.openfarms.co.nz