Landmark

Are New Zealand farmers the best in the World? A recent remark on international television to this effect set me thinking about this and I wondered if it is arrogant for us to believe that we, the inhabitants of the most recently settled country in the world, are better farmers than those whose agricultural history goes back 10,000 years and more?

The comment was made in reference to our low cost dairy industry but I find it somewhat ironic that it is our arable industry in which production is breaking world records and a ploughman is world champion .

It is clear, if we are to retain this lofty international perception we can’t rest on our laurels. There’s many a country, both developing and established, tilting at this crown. In terms of world production we are miniscule and if we are to continue to compete and prosper, we must focus our management skills on producing quality products.

I’ve been fortunate in travelling to many countries in both hemispheres, too many to list here, discussing, lecturing, aiding, addressing, consulting and observing. I have seen three tier farming on the same piece of land, i.e. Coconuts at the top level, Cocoa at the second level and Vegetables at ground level. In Kyrgyzstan near the city of Osh, which is said to be older than Rome, I saw a crop of wheat undersown with white clover that had yielded seven tonnes per hectare. That was off land next to one of the strands of the old Silk Road, land that has been farmed continuously since those times. At the time it would have been a good yield, even by New Zealand standards. How’s that for sustainability?

For a while it was my belief that farmers within the EEC must be less than able in that they needed subsidies to prop them up. It came as a shock when I realized that some of these farmers were really smart operators. The ones I met knew more about “Profit Centres”, Return On Investment and the laws of “diminishing returns” than any other farmers I had come across. All had outstanding recording systems and the Key Performance indicators from these records were embedded in their thinking at all times. They farmed in a subsidized environment but they knew how to maximize their opportunities.

So whilst we may lavish in the mantle of being “the best farmers in the world”, and take some pride from it, the fact remains there are many others in the team and it’s possible we, the farmers, may be the weak link.

Despite our farmers being well educated, hard working and with instinctive skills, the fact remains there are significant, unheralded and often underfunded, contributors to the reputation. These include our Scientists, Consultants, an innovative servicing industry and a stable and functioning infrastructure. All things considered, and despite the current drought, the greatest contributor to our competitive advantage none-the–less is our climate.

What’s this about farmers being the “weak link” in the chain?

Ask yourself, why is it that one of our largest dairy farming conglomerates has collapsed? Why is it that finalists in the Lincoln Foundation Farmer of the Year” competition achieve bottom line results two and three times above the national average for their segment of the industry? The answer in these instances is management, bad and outstanding. Management is one of the things we farmers can control. Accurate and critical thinking does make a difference!

In New Zealand we have some great farm management software; which coincidently I’ve heard described as “the best in the world”. The last independent research I saw showed that New Zealand farmers are not using these tools effectively. This is a pity. If we want to uphold our perceived reputation, with substance, its time New Zealand farmers did something about that.

John Lay

Service Pack (SP) 11 is available for downloading on http://www.iagri.com/support_downloads.htm . The main program updates in the Service Pack relate to the wage book and incorporate the new Tax rates which came into effect on the 1st April 2010.

When downloading service packs it is important to read the ‘Update Instructions” and the “Release notes”. (refer to the illustration below) The Release Notes are there to give you a brief outline of what changes or updates have been made in the service pack. If you look back over the preceding service packs you will see that those changes and tweeks are many.

Updating the actual Tax rates is something you, the user, will have to do within the LandMark program. It is explained in detail in the “Updating tax rates (April 2010)” link below. Double clicking on that link puts the instructions on the screen in PDF format. They can be printed out if you choose.

Most older computers have 32 bit operating systems. (Some very old computers are 16 bit but they are becoming few and far between). Newer computers may have 64 bit operating systems. That is why we release our service packs in 32 bit and 64 bit formats. (See below). They are not interchangeable.

We have recommended that you consult the help desk if you are worried about which system your computer is using or alternatively you could check yourself by selecting the Windows “Start” then “Control Panel” then “System” or “System and Security”. You will see a dialog box similar to the one on the right which is a 32bit computer. If you have a 64 bit computer it will be printed in this box (where the red box is Below).

The theme for the National Fieldays is “Innovation for Future Profit” and i.Agri has once again been allocated a Premier Feature Site (PF 26) in the main pavilion. We are working on a number of new innovations for release at the Fieldays and will keep you informed of these as we near the time.

If you are reading this, we are preaching to the converted. It is however interesting, and of concern, to note that 152 of our subscribers didn’t open our last newsletter despite the email reaching the intended target. We try to steer clear of using John’s surname (Lay) or referring to him as a specialist to avoid our emails being treated as Spam. Most of our subscribers have broadband of one sort or another so the un-opened emails are an ongoing mystery, one that we are continuing to work on.