Newly appointed AgriZeroNZ director Andy Macfarlane says New Zealand farmers risk losing their edge if they assume they are the most efficient.

“Our greatest danger here is complacency,” he says.

The Canterbury farmer and former Fonterra director was in Argentina in February.

“I just see farmers all around the world going hard on this stuff, and we don’t want to be left behind because we get overconfident.”

He says emissions efficiency and productivity go together.

“Dead animals don’t emit methane, so the faster we can grow animals, the better.”

He joins AgriZeroNZ’s tools as they near on-farm use. He says global subsidies make an unfair playing field, but the real prize is winning the world’s best customers.

“Getting the nine or $10 price is much better than getting a bit of a subsidy on top of $7.”

CountryWide CONNECT with Andy Thompson & Sarah Perriam-Lampp is our daily rural show livestreamed from 11am-1pm. Visit country-wide.co.nz on how to watch/listen or download the CountryWide CONNECT mobile app, available on Apple iOS and Android.