Today’s potential, tomorrow’s possibilities

Today, KPMG New Zealand unveiled the highly anticipated results of its annual Agribusiness Leaders Priority Survey, a key resource for industry leaders and influencers. The 2024 KPMG Agribusiness Agenda, titled 'Today’s potential, tomorrow’s possibilities', presents these findings alongside insights from over 150 food and fibre industry leaders who have contributed their perspectives on the pressing opportunities and challenges facing the food and fibre sector.

Ian Proudfoot, KPMG Global Head of Agribusiness, highlighted the findings of the 2024 Survey Results, stating, "While it was not unexpected that 'world-class biosecurity' has maintained its position as the top priority for leaders in this year’s survey, it is not surprising that leaders are focused on a wide range of top-of-mind issues, given the number of factors shaping the operating environment for organisations across the food and fibre sector."

Industry leaders are concerned about the looming threat of high-pathogen avian flu, capital constraints, changing market expectations, and low industry morale, the role of regulation, reframing how we think about the environment, oceans, food security, and climate transition, amongst other things.

The key question underlying this year's Agenda is: What do leaders across the food and fibre sector need to do to keep the farmers farming and the growers growing today so that they can capitalise on the potential inherent in the sector?

The survey's overall priority score decreased by 2.3% compared to 2023, and apart from millennials, all demographic groups showed a downward trend in priority scores.

Proudfoot acknowledged the significant shifts in priorities, a clear reflection of the sector's evolving landscape. He suggests that these changes could be attributed to industry-wide fatigue and bandwidth challenges within organisations. This highlights that leaders are currently focusing on the immediate issues in front of their organisation and have little or no time to work on the longer term opportunities and challenges.

"The last couple of years have been really challenging for many, with commodity returns plummeting, interest rates soaring, and the climate growing more unpredictable. The morale of people across the sector has been a significant concern, as was evident in its being the dominant discussion topic during the roundtable sessions and the conversations with members of the emerging leaders cohort we convened in 2023."

Several changes in the Top 10 priorities were highlighted, with five items ranking higher than last year and two new entries returning after a one-year absence.

The emergence of "act on the results of gene editing discussions" as the second-ranked priority, surpassing "completion of high-quality trade agreements," was a noteworthy surprise.

Proudfoot highlighted the significant progress in accelerating the conversation on gene editing, as reflected in this year's priority rankings. This momentum marks a pivotal turning point in the industry's recognition of the importance of biotechnologies, signifying a growing comfort in engaging with these transformative technologies.

"It is now imperative for a mature and inclusive conversation on the future of genetic technologies and gene editing in New Zealand's food and fibre sector. We need to turn talk into action and decisively implement society’s agreed-upon position to capitalise on the potential of biotechnologies have in addressing food insecurity, climate resilience, and biodiversity protection."

The importance of enhancing water availability was ranked as a Top 10 priority this year, having fallen out of the Top 10 last year. Proudfoot highlighted the necessity of practical steps that the Government must take to instil confidence in individuals and organisations, encouraging them to start drafting business cases and seek investment for water storage and irrigation infrastructure.

"The consenting rules need to be addressed. Nobody will invest in a 100-year asset if the consent to operate the asset is only granted for 15 or 20 years. These crucial steps can pave the way for the sector's more secure and prosperous future."

The report also sheds some light on the need for industry leaders to alter their leadership style to better respond to the needs and expectations of a new generation of employees.

“It is vital for leaders to take the lead in instilling confidence in people across the sector to stay the course. Hundreds of influential sector leaders are not involved in preparing the Agenda but need support to enable them to lead conversations in their local communities and build confidence about a long-term, sustainable future for their industry."

On the topic of trade, Proudfoot noted, "The challenge for the Government is ensuring that its actions on trade will continue to create value for the country. The question is whether the greater return will come from a long-term expansion of our FTA network or, given where the world is today, focusing on protecting and upgrading the access we have already secured."

The Agenda emphasises the need for sustainable solutions to increase revenue and reduce costs, ensuring the sector's long-term viability and resilience.

“Sustainably increasing revenue is not going to come from getting paid more for what we produce. It must involve diversifying farm income, capturing value for the products grown beyond commodity returns, and exploring new markets for ecosystem services. Additionally, there's a growing potential to extract value from 100% of the biomass grown on farm through circular business models, creating new revenue streams for farmers and growers,” says Proudfoot.

The Agenda acknowledges the challenges on the cost side of farming and growing businesses but also identifies promising opportunities to reduce operating costs through participation in energy markets, exploration of new productivity tools, and harnessing digital solutions to drive on-farm efficiency.

Looking ahead, the report stresses the importance of unveiling tomorrow's possibilities in the global food system. It discusses the emergence of next-generation products and technologies, such as generative AI and modern biotechnologies, while emphasising the need to secure a place in novel food markets to build a climate-resilient food system.

"For the right science to be done and, more importantly, for it to create outcomes, investment mustn't be left to the Government alone— all interested parties must have some skin in the game."

Proudfoot concluded, "While we discuss strategies to enhance the sector's performance, we recognise the inherent resilience of food and fibre producers. They have consistently weathered numerous challenges and continue to deliver for New Zealand, demonstrating a remarkable level of resilience ingrained in the industry."