Land use flexibility gives the food and fibre sector more choices
Land use flexibility is about the freedom and ability of landowners to make decisions on adapting or modifying how their land is used.
New Zealand has become a major exporter of dairy, red meat, fruit, wine, seafood, wood, and other high-quality primary products. Central to this success has been the choice of landowners to shift land to higher-value uses to respond to:
- market signals
- technological advancements
- new information
- regulations to enhance New Zealand’s comparative and competitive advantage.
Evolving farm systems and new technology, science, and knowledge mean New Zealand can grow food and fibre productivity, profitability, and sustainability.
Taking it to the next level
Increasing land use flexibility gives the food and fibre sector greater choice to improve productivity and profitability, provided there is a smaller or no greater environmental impact.
It will play a critical role in helping the food and fibre sector respond to changing consumer demand, trade opportunities, and increasing competition in international markets.
A Lincoln University and ASB report found more flexible land use and the adoption of new technology, science, and systems could boost the economy by $10 billion over the next 5 to 7 years.
Growing food and fibre demand
The government is boosting access and demand for New Zealand's premium food and fibre, including through free trade agreements with the European Union, the United Arab Emirates, the Gulf Cooperation Council, and India.
The global population is also forecast to grow with rising incomes in fast-developing economies driving greater demand for higher-value and more sustainable products.
Greater land use flexibility will support New Zealand’s food and fibre sector to meet this growing demand.
The work underway to increase land use flexibility
The government has announced an investment of $143 million in a package of commercial projects to support greater land use flexibility.
The commercial projects span dairy, sheep and beef, horticulture, forestry, and aquaculture with the goal of showing how the latest farm innovations can lift productivity, sustainability, and profitability.
Land use flexibility – Backing Kiwi farmers and growers to feed the world [PDF, 10 MB]
Flyers about commercial projects that support land use flexibility [PDF, 5.3 MB]
Funding is provided by the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI).
Media releases
Optimising land use to power rural productivity – Beehive.govt.nz
Land Use Flexibility: Improving the environment while producing more – Beehive.govt.nz
Land Use Flexibility: empowering horticulture – Beehive.govt.nz
Land Use Flexibility: empowering forestry and wood through tech – Beehive.govt.nz
Land Use Flexibility: greater options for whenua Māori – Beehive.govt.nz
Some of the commercial projects being funded
This is an initial set of commercial projects. The Primary Sector Growth Fund remains open to new projects that meet the criteria for investment.
- Dairy: a $45.85 million project to demonstrate how farm systems can support profitable dairy farming with improved environmental outcomes, partnering with DairyNZ, dairy processors, Rabobank, the Fertiliser Association of New Zealand, Gallagher, Halter, Pāmu, Craigmore Sustainables, and Dairy Holdings Limited.
- Kiwifruit: a $47.87 million project to boost orchard productivity and reduce environmental impacts, partnering with Zespri and New Zealand Kiwifruit Growers Incorporated.
- Aquaculture: a $29.3 million project to pilot New Zealand’s first open ocean salmon farm, together with technology to achieve productive and resilient King Salmon stock at scale.
- Beef and Sheep: an $8.47 million project to lift the productivity of beef and sheep systems by shifting from physical to digital fencing through the use of wearables, partnering with Pāmu, Silver Fern Farms, ANZCO, Beef + Lamb NZ, ASB, Halter, AgFirst, BakerAg, FarmIQ, One NZ and MPI, with wider engagement from iwi, regional councils and others.
- Forestry: an $8 million project to assess the feasibility in New Zealand of producing modular building construction, partnering with VoMo Limited.
- Whenua Māori: a $2.6 million project to work with Māori landowners to identify optimisation options for their farming systems, partnering with Te Arawa Primary Sector Incorporated.
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