Is there a Smarter Way?
No doubt about it, farming is challenging no matter what you are producing. Each season brings learnings, obstacles, market shifts and without fail, weather. Growers love the challenge, the outdoors, and ultimately providing a high-quality product, but it is also easy to get lost in the day to day.
We need to adapt and address challenges, deliver stronger consistent returns, and ultimately build legacies for future generations. How do we get there?
Routinely taking stock and asking is there a smarter way? A smarter way may be a small change in management of a block, it might be closing the data loop on a particular action, it could be setting up a small trial to test a burning question or to simply assess the benefits of particular strategies or actions.
A smarter way might be bigger questions – What options are available to improve? Is my enterprise resilient? Have I developed appropriate succession pathways?
There are a range of programmes and pathways available to assist growers, one of which is ASB’s Every Hectare Matters. The programme is about supporting farmers to unlock the full potential of land & pairing with a range of expertise to deliver. The programme covers a range of topics including optimisation of current systems, diversification, infrastructure improvements (water reticulation, irrigation, solar etc), housing or papakāinga, and succession planning. If you’re thinking about any of these things, have a look at the programme and see if its right for you.
Carl O’Brien
