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Convert dairy farms and feed the world


OPINION: How would it feel for our national pride if we fed 100 million people instead of 50 million?

This could be achieved by converting ten to twenty per cent of our best dairy land to growing vegetable crops for processing in rotation with grass for cows.

All the US-based mega money for funded research is centred around producing new food products in laboratories using genetically modified yeast.

Our assumption is that the raw materials for this production would be global commodity crops such as sugar, corn and soya beans. These crops are mostly genetically modified, and are essentially human food.

To put these commodity crops through a fermentation process dramatically reduces the food quantity, and increases the price of what was once a perfectly good authentic food. Interfering with the blueprint for life or modifying the genetic code of plants and microbes is a conscience issue for many people.

Frozen foods show far more promise for the future because they have extremely high yields in terms of food content, and are recognisable as authentic products such as carrots, cauliflower, peas, sweet corn and potato chips.

It is a possible to greatly extend the range of frozen vegetables for diverse tastes and to produce customised mixes for specific meal types or designs. This makes frozen foods an ideal ingredient for an increasingly automated urban based food service industry.

Investment in processing infrastructure would essentially be provided by Fonterra farmers and be New Zealand owned, the incentive for farmers to invest would be the improved and stabilised milk prices along with higher returns than milk for the crops grown.

Crop residues would be well used on farm as cow feed. Cows would be only fed on grass and crop residues which are not human food.

Fonterra farmers have invested heavily, from their own pockets mostly, to develop a vast amount of fertile, well manured, irrigated land to produce milk for export. They have learned how to grow very technical fodder crops such as beets, kale, turnips and swedes to feed their cows during times of grass shortages.

These farmers are hungry for such technology as robotic weeding, both physical and chemically based processes to reduce labour and chemical inputs.

Fonterra business have developed extensive systems of ensuring milk quality excellence from their farm suppliers. On farm compliance in the areas of input recording and auditing, animal welfare and environmental sustainability is incrementally improving as farmers are trained to Fonterra developed systems.

The excellence of these systems makes Fonterra a trusted brand in international markets. Fonterra have experience also in building food processing mega-factories, supply chain efficiencies, and can operate on slim profit margins.

Our biggest trading partner, China has mobilised vast numbers of people to move to urban manufacturing areas where their principal food supply has changed from traditional home cooking to purchasing prepared food from the food service industry. China has developed massive infrastructure for shipping and road transport.

Manufacture of stainless-steel machines for food service is opening the pathway for automated and robotic food service delivery. Automation gives the option to robotically wash plates and cutlery and to return a deposit to the customer electronically for bringing plates back.

Farmers have experienced the hardship of low and volatile prices for milk based on global dairy trade auctions. They are looking to diversify and limit production to keep prices and overall returns up.

Extensive and successful marketing work has been done by Fonterra to bring innovative milk products into the global food service industry.

Frozen vegetable ingredients are a logical next step. Whilst the current profitability of frozen foods may be a challenge the future should be good with Fonterra’s huge competitive advantage in land supply, processing skills, trusted goodness and provenance.

Right now, Fonterra is not in a good position for big investment, but farmers need hope and a future which uses all their brilliance to improve morale, incomes and their place in the world.

Tim and Deborah Rhodes are Nelson farmers.

 

Source: Stuff


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