Protecting our farm businesses for future generations is front of mind for many in the farming world, including when it comes to land use, and freshwater degradation. 

Guests Lee Matheson and Tanira Kingi have both been part of Our Land And Water (Toitū te Whenua, Toiora te Wai) research projects, and spoke at the symposium held in May, to discuss ways farmers already are and can continue to protect their greatest asset: the land. Whether this is getting involved in protecting your local catchment, or diversifying land use, the opportunities are out there. 

Guests include:

1. Lee Matheson, Managing Director, Perrin Ag
2. Dr Tanira Kingi, Agricultural Economist 

Hosts:

1. Rebecca Greaves, Editor, Country-Wide
2. Sarah Perriam-Lampp, Managing Director, CountryWide Media

Perrin Ag’s Managing Director Lee Matheson spoke at the Our Land And Water symposium back in May, and has been part of one of their research streams. He’s been part of a project looking into the Tukituki catchment group, which consulted with farmers about the impact of land use on water quality. He said farmers were actually already doing a lot more than they realised when presented with a list of water quality mitigations. 

The farmers they spoke to were interested in more valuable but less impactful land use, but were struggling to get resources, such as water, to do that. 

He also discusses what he’d like to see from future research, including making sure research is funded to ensure future-proofed, sustainable food systems for New Zealand to help us maintain our global green reputation.

Dr Tanira Kingi has been involved in the agricultural sector for more than 30 years, and has been part of the Our Land And Water research too, looking at how farmers can increase productivity while decreasing their carbon footprint. 

He also discusses the importance of protecting our natural resources, and that farmers can't rely on a temporary relaxing of regulations by a change in government. He says we need to look out how our production systems impact our natural resources going into the future, as we encounter more droughts and harsher environments. 

From data Pohewa Pae Tawhiti collected with Whitiwhiti Ora, farmers can find information on alternative ways of using their land, for products such as apples, truffles, asparagus, macadamias and maize. Although the project is now finished, Tanira Kingi says he’s happy with the results and the information now available to farmers on a national and local level. 

Articles mentioned in this episode:

• Listen to the Our Land And Water podcast series
• Lee Matheson: Synthesis Scenarios for Future Land Use
• Tanira Kingi: Pohewa Pae Tawhiti - Visualising Horizons
• For more on Whitiwhiti Ora: Enabling decisions on land use opportunities for Aotearoa
• Watch the Our Land And Water 2024 Symposium sessions

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