Federated Farmers: Adding value to beef a complex task
Article from the NZ Herald.
When a politician tells farmers we should ‘add more value’ to the produce we sell, I get slightly frustrated. It is easy to say “we need to sell our wares to the wealthy” but the reality is significantly more complex.
When a politician tells farmers we should ‘add more value’ to the produce we sell, I get slightly frustrated. It is easy to say “we need to sell our wares to the wealthy” but the reality is significantly more complex.
Recently I was able to compare a typical Kiwi farming approach with that of a Japanese beef farmer. I was fortunate to have the chance attend a seminar on pastural beef production in Japan with Massey University associate professor Rebecca Hickson, as well as visit several beef farms during the week.
The average beef farm was small, with exceptionally high costs of production: most cattle are housed in barns and fed with a large proportion of imported feed.