Importance of water storage a highlight in Agriculture Outlook Report

Federated Farmers is pleased to see water storage and infrastructure given high importance in the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry’s (MAF) annual Situation and Outlook for New Zealand Agriculture and Forestry (SONZAF) report.

“The report reviews the economic performance of the agricultural sector over the past year and more importantly, provides MAF’s projections on how the various agricultural industries will perform in the next few years,” says Don Nicolson, Federated Farmers President.

“Given Federated Farmers has been campaigning around water storage and infrastructure for some time now, we’re pleased to see that MAF has dedicated a separate chapter to this key issue.

“On a strategic level, the SONZAF concludes that water storage has far-reaching implications and investing in improved reliability of water supply, will add value to our agricultural exports.

“This is exactly what Federated Farmers has been saying, but we agree that water storage isn’t the silver bullet answer. Rather it’s just one component of a much larger issue about utilising water and the role this will play in the future of the country and in building community resilience.

“Investment in water infrastructure is crucial if we want to increase the productivity of farmed land and is essential for New Zealand agriculture’s completive advantage and our first world status.

“Water storage ensures reliability of supply, this in turn will enable more effective and efficient irrigation to a larger area of the country. This then allows our farmers to take advantage of high-value markets that require a reliable supply of high quality products.

“MAF has indicated that more markets are opening up around the world, take China for example. Therefore, it’s important that we continue to produce high value food and for this, water is a key.

“SONZAF has done a good job in highlighting New Zealand agriculture’s competitive advantage, especially in the production of safe and high quality food and we commend MAF for that,” Mr Nicolson concluded.