Advanced Search | Help
The New Zealand arable sector produces grains (mainly wheat, barley, oats and maize) for mainly domestic consumption. The farms generally grow a range of these crops in any one year, as well as vegetable crops, forage crops and most also graze livestock. The range of crops and livestock, grown in rotation around farms, is a key to the sustainability of this intensive system and is a point of difference for NZ.
There are about 2000 farms growing grains and seeds on 175,000 to 200,000ha. About 500, mainly in the Canterbury region, grow the majority of the crops - apart from maize grain which is almost entirely grown in the North Island due to the longer and warmer growing season.
Beyond the farm gate, the sector has a critical role in other primary production sectors through the development, multiplication and marketing of new varieties of pasture and forage seeds for the pastoral sector and for export. There is also a significant industry producing stockfeed (mainly for the dairy, pig and poultry sectors), and flour and starch based products for human consumption from NZ grown and imported grains.
The industry has a farm gate value of approximately $500 million. Seed exports from the sector total about $150-$180M per annum and comprise grass and clover seeds, seed and dry peas, forage brassica seed, specialist vegetable seed and various oilseeds produced from 60-70,000ha. In many cases, the seeds are grown in NZ to multiply larger quantities for the next northern hemisphere growing season. New Zealand has a comparative advantage in our location, soils, water, climate, farmer and industry expertise and quality management systems that put us in a premium position in the global seed market. The sector also exports flour and malt based products to the value of $130-160M per annum.
Approximately 1 million tonnes of grain is produced in NZ from about 100-120,000 ha, which reduces the need to import as much for feed and human consumption. About 300-450,000 tonnes of grain and 1 million tonnes of palm kernel expeller are imported.
MPI provides an annual overview of the arable sector and international trends that are most likely to affect the sector in the medium term. This assessment is published in Situation and Outlook for New Zealand Agriculture and Forestry (SONZAF) reports.
MPI's farm monitoring programme models the production and financial status of a typical arable farm in Canterbury. The Arable Monitoring Report also discusses sector trends and issues. Community-led innovation, collaboration, and sustainability are the themes of a report, Sustainable Farming Fund: Ten Years of Grassroots Action, released in October 2010 to mark 10 years of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry's Sustainable Farming Fund.
The main organisations representing the New Zealand arable sector include: