Copyright farmersweekly
Reading Time: 2 minutes An independent review of the return on investment from the milk solids levy that dairy farmers paid to DairyNZ over the past six years says that the $351 million in levy revenue generated an estimated $2.9 billion in value. The review, by economic analysts Nimmo Bell, was carried out in response to farmer feedback that called for greater transparency around how the levy is spent, DairyNZ chair Tracy Brown said at the organisation’s annual meeting in Hamilton. “That’s close to $187 a hectare or $0.26/kg MS a year,” Brown said. On June 1, DairyNZ raised the levy from 3.6 to 4.5 cents per kilogram of milk solids, the first time it had been increased in 16 years. DairyNZ’s vision is to ensure the levy is the best investment for every dairy farmer, Brown said. It focuses on three areas: driving productivity, strengthening farm systems, and sustainability, she said. “We want farmers to know we’re behind you. We have got your backs, doing research to support on farm change to boost sustainability and profitability.” CEO Campbell Parker said it had been a big year for the organisation. He outlined some of the outcomes so far. “Farmers made it clear to us that they really value discussion groups and missed them in some communities. That’s why farmer-led discussion groups are back and doing the heavy lifting on farmer-to-farmer learning.” DairyNZ’s strategic priorities include driving productivity, strengthening farm systems and being able to compete on sustainability, he said. Looking at the year ahead, Parker said DairyBase had recently announced its new partnership with Farm Focus to tackle data duplication. “This is also expanding, as we have a signed contract with LIC to improve data sharing, and provide farmers a more complete view of their business, not just the financials.” Plans are also continuing to simplify breeding worth indexes with the establishment of One Breeding Worth by the DairyNZ-managed National Animal Evaluation Limited. DairyNZ will also soon be launching DAiSY, its new AI-powered website assistant, he said. DairyNZ also sought farmers’ views on the Biosecurity Response Levy. This levy is collected by DairyNZ and was established to fund biosecurity responses. It paid for the dairy sector’s share of the M bovis programme until the end of 2024. The organisation sought farmer views on broadening the scope of what the levy can be spent on to include other biosecurity-readiness activities to help make better use of the investment farmers have already made. “We haven’t finished analysing all responses, but at close of the consultation, approximately 77% had indicated ‘yes’, while 20% had indicated ‘no’ to the proposed change. The remainder of 3% were blanks or invalid.” Parker said the feedback included having a clear focus on transparency of spending, the importance of having the levy in place and retaining some funds for a response and acknowledging the benefits of being able to use it for readiness. It now has to apply to the minister for biosecurity to amend the levy, which it expects to do by Christmas. “The minister will then assess this, and if he supports it, will take it to cabinet. We hope to have the levy order amended by mid next year.”
