1.0 Executive Summary
1.1 Project Purpose
Customers and consumers of land-based products are increasingly interested not only in the quality of products, but also in the quality of the underlying production systems. On-farm and orchard quality assurance and environmental management systems (QA/EMS) are being developed by a number of New Zealand agribusiness companies. This report assesses the role of on-farm QA/EMS in achieving sustainable agriculture and sustainable land management policy outcomes.
1.2 Consumer Trends
Important trends in consumer preferences for environmental management and product quality include:
- increasing demand for quality which incorporates aspects of food safety, nutritional value, organoleptic attributes, freshness and convenience;
- food/fibre safety is more important than environmental issues;
- traceability is increasingly demanded by retailers and/or by government regulation.
1.3 Issues identified in Case Studies of NZ Quality Systems
Eight case studies of New Zealand On-farm QA/EMS identified the following issues:
(i) farmer income:
- impacts vary;
- some systems generate higher returns;
- some systems make markets more secure;
- some systems generate higher profits, but yields are more variable (organic farmers).
(ii) farm management:
- most did not require a lot of time to implement;
- provision of farm plans a useful bonus.
(iii) product quality and safety:
- improved by reducing contamination;
- increased proportion of product accepted for premium markets.
(iv) environmental benefits:
- so far these are small, with mainly only indirect impacts on the environment;
- issues of most concern to overseas markets are food safety and animal welfare, so the market driver is not yet sufficient to motivate the inclusion of environmental issues.
(v) animal welfare:
- all the case study livestock schemes endeavoured to incorporate MAF's animal welfare codes in their schemes.
(vi) marketing differentiation:
- only some of the schemes differentiated the product as subject to on-farm quality assurance.
(vii) certification:
- certification needs to be internationally credible.
(viii) promoting farmer/grower participation:
- use is made of financial incentives, information on market demand for assured products and provision of technical advice.
(ix) motivation for joining:
- personal contact by industry representative important;
- perceived marketing advantage;
- pride in product;
- expectation of improved profitability.
(x) effects of quality schemes:
- increased planning required.
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