Our highlights from 2019

With the year coming to an end, we take the opportunity to look back at a busy and very rewarding year for The AgriBusiness Group. In the last blog post of 2019, we sum up our very personal highlights and exciting developments in the agricultural sector that took place this year; and would like to thank all our readers for following along. We wish you happy holidays and a great start to 2020!

2019 TAG Christmas party with families

Exciting and promising developments in the primary sector

• Environment Canterbury further strengthening its collaborative processes with farmers to achieve environmental goals;

• The deepening interest and commitment of all stakeholders to engage and seriously address sustainability issues like climate change and water quality;

• The sheep milking industry starting to take off in Canterbury;

• A growing achievement in farmers’ audited self-management: Farm managers are understanding more and more how to incorporate environmental policies in their farm systems and adopt more sustainable practices for their own benefit and increased production;

• The expansion of New Zealand’s efficient dairying practices through NZ Aid programmes to countries that are at the beginning of developing the industry. It has a positive impact not only on the environment but most importantly on local farmers and their families;

• The increasingly bright outlook for the sheep industry due to rising lamb prices despite regulatory pressures and the tightening up of the reserve bank;

• The way land owners are meeting environmental requirements and continuing to make a profit;

• The rapid uptake of in-house quality milk-testing in Myanmar which enables consumers to buy safer and better quality products;

• Measuring and mitigating greenhouse gas emissions across New Zealand’s kiwifruit supply chain and using these measurements to inform the climate change targets for the industry.

Our personal highlights from 2019

• The successful completion of the Colombia Dairy Chain project and its impact on many families: the incorporation of knowledge into policies, training and best practices and linking project outputs into the institutional system ensure an ongoing legacy of the project (Jon);

• The growth of The AgriBusiness’ consultancy team in terms of increasing capability to deliver our services to delighted clients. The growth and achievement of each individual team member brings about a group of people that is collectively far stronger than the sum of its parts (Stuart);

• A two-week long trip to Kaikoura and North Canterbury: working alongside farmers in beautiful surroundings helping them with the implementation of environmental policies (Dave);

• Successfully running (and growing) six RMPP action groups (Sarah);

• Prioritising personal development and seeing the learning and personal growth starting to pay off: Charlotte participated in courses by the Agri-Women’s Development Trust, the action group for rural professionals by the RMPP, the Dare to Lead course and became a certified Nutrient Management Advisor (Charlotte);

• Providing expert advice and research that has informed Zespri’s Foundational Sustainability Strategy for the NZ kiwifruit industry (Jayson);

• The development of a new diverse and highly-skilled team in Myanmar: increased confidence and ability levels to relate to and coach local farmers and their families makes a positive difference for their lives and is even exceeding expectations (Shaun and Chrissy)

• The AgriBusiness Group becoming involved in agro-forestry, integrated farm systems and GHG emissions mitigation opportunities in the agricultural sector (Sam);

• Completing Bachelor of Applied Management of Human Resources degree (Congratulations Chrissy!)

• Creating a new look for The AgriBusiness Group’s website and publishing 24 new blog posts since June (thanks team!) (Mona).

We’ll be back on Monday, 6 January 2020.