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December 15, 2014
Ahuwhenua effort prepares farmers for price shocks
Waatea Team
Posted On December 15, 2014
The chair of the Ahuwhenua Trophy says participation in the annual competition for excellence in Maori farming is a good way for Maori landowners to learn to cope with volatility in the industry.
Kingi Smiler says many dairy farmers will struggle to make a profit this year because of the lower milk price.
He says one of the main goals of Ahuwhenua is to develop Maori businesses so they can deal with any shocks.
That starts with a good governance and management teams which selects the right systems for the conditions, such as choosing between high and low feed input dairy systems.
"Certainly where there is a lot of feed put into the dairy systems at (milk) prices now at $4.70, this would be well below the costs of production for those types of systems. So it is pretty important the choice of those systems is made knowing that you can still manage that price volatility and so that requires a lot of analysis and a very good management team to manage within those constraints," Mr Smiler says.
Next year’s Ahuwhenua Trophy focuses on the sheep and beef sector.
FOR THE FULL INTERVIEW WITH KINGI SMILER CLICK ON THE LINK
https://secure.zeald.com/uma/play_podcast?podlink=MjUwMDM=
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