INDUSTRY NEWS
Weathering the storm Total export revenue from New Zealand’s primary sector exceeded revenue from the previous year, despite the COVID-19 pandemic. Some farm produce exporters have even expanded into new markets as a result. The cost of shipping has skyrocketed, however and the logistics of getting products to international markets remain challenging in 2021. Decreased international demand for some farm exports such as New Zealand venison, especially demand from hotel restaurants in Europe and America due to COVID-19 closures, is also having an impact. A new study by AgResearch and its partners revealed that 47 percent of New Zealanders viewed the effect of the pandemic on their farms or businesses as negative. A further 37 percent said the effect was neutral, in the period through to June 2020, which included national lockdowns. It is fair to say that the tone of this report is one of surprise and that AgResearch was not expecting such findings, describing the pandemic and lockdowns as having “relatively little impact”. Much of New Zealand’s primary sector was able to continue working through the COVID-19 lockdowns and unlike some other nations, its performance held up well. “It’s clear from our analysis that the in-built ability to cope with adversity,
22 | THE FARMLANDER
find new ways of doing things and get on with the job, were important in how farmers and their supporting industries performed so well,” AgResearch Senior Scientist Dr Val Snow says. “Many farmers were already dealing with drought conditions but were able to manage through the extra difficulties. We’ve seen those in other countries not fare as well. Some Kiwi farmers found being required to stay on their farms through COVID-19 restrictions meant they were actually more focused on their core tasks and their family life.” Some respondents noticed a change in attitude among the public around how they value the security of food production and therefore the important role farmers play, at the top of the supply chain. While the majority of Kiwi farmers remain upbeat despite the challenges of 2020, it isn’t all peaches and cream. While agriculture was not directly affected, the reduction in tourist arrivals substantially affected demand for agricultural products through the restaurant and fast food trade, both of which were shut down. The main non-labour issues for farm produce exporters were air freight challenges of high-value products and the loss of key markets. More broadly, some sectors were concerned with impending shortages of some animal feed components, according to the Ministry for Primary Industries. The Government intervened by providing NZD $303 million of financial support for international air-freight
carriers to ensure high-value exports could reach global markets and essential imports could arrive in New Zealand. Initially, 53 weekly flights were scheduled to main export destinations and at the beginning of August 2020, the schedule was increased to 70 flights per week. Animal feed availability was a key concern for livestock farmers, particularly because the pandemic coincided with a widespread autumn drought. COVID-19 and related measures resulted in some farmers having to hold stock on-farm through the 2020 autumn, when slaughter was delayed due to processing constraints. The Government worked to ensure that critical services and essential imports (e.g. animal feed, farm machinery) to farms and food production systems were provided. “Although the outlook is more positive now with access to vaccines, many of those we heard from expect impacts of the pandemic to linger for some time,” Dr Val says. Looking more closely at the revenue side of things, if we dive deeper into New Zealand export performance by farming sector in 2020 vs 2019, a positive picture also emerges. Dairy remains strong Dairy has a long-term trend of export value growth, growing by around 7 percent on average per year since 1989. Despite the pandemic presenting some logistical challenges, momentum did
Farmlands Co-operative Society Limited | © April 2021. All rights reserved.
WWW.FARMLANDS.CO.NZ
