Tim Napier 2004 Nuffield Scholar

Transcription

1 Presentation by Tim Napier 2004 Nuffield Scholar Farming for the Triple Bottom Line Sustainability in the 21st Century 1

2 Tim Napier Tim received the 2004 scholarship for a primary producer to study landcare farming supported by Landcare Australia Limited. Tim is a Farm Business Manager from Goondiwindi. He manages a 2200 Ha property producing irrigated cotton with flood and drip irrigation, grain and beef cattle. He uses holistic management and regenerative farming practices in his system, including the use of biological inputs and innovative business methods. There is a growing awareness of the ways our food and fibre is being produced and consequently pressure is being exerted by consumers to have that production occur in a socially acceptable fashion. An unofficial Social Licence is increasingly being imposed on farmers to carry on a business exploiting our natural resources. Sustainability of Family Farm Businesses is subject to a wide range of factors, only some of which are under our control. There is a wide range of interpretations of the term sustainability, and the expectations of how agriculture should manage its resources in the business of producing food and fibre for the nation. There is no one silver bullet solution to addressing sustainability. Each situation will require its own unique combination of factors. Triple-Bottom-Line principles provide an easily understood and clear path to monitoring progress toward sustainability. In some situations, addressing the issue of sustainability appears to be at cross-purposes with the immediate issue of staying in business. Farmers are generally forced to concentrate on the short-term due to marginal economic situations brought about by the cost-price squeeze. This situation denies many farmers the opportunity to work realistically on long-term issues, such as sustainability. Farmers need to understand ALL the factors that affect their businesses, both internal and external. We live in a dynamic and rapidly changing agricultural world, and our ability to survive in the long-term is largely dependant on how we manage that process of change at both farm and business level. Successful sustainable farmers use a combination of soil-building crop rotations and natural composts and manures to eliminate or greatly reduce their reliance on conventional inputs of fertilisers and pesticides. Farmers pursuing sustainability find a great deal of change is required from conventional farming. This change is required at several levels, not just in the paddock. Sustainable Production is being used as a marketing tool to differentiate from the commodity stream and generate extra value for the farmer. When done well, a state of sustainability can be achieved through achieving greater value for money spent on inputs and creating more lucrative marketing opportunities, improving all three bottom lines and the terms of trade. Much of the knowledge of the principles of sustainable agriculture already exists. There is not a requirement to re-invent the wheel in this regard. Research is required to find the particular applications of these principles, in all parts of our diverse agricultural production, at a local level.

3 Sponsored By: LANDCARE AUSTRALIA 3

4 Goondiwindi QLD Managing 2800Ha mixed farming Cotton Beef Cereals Employed by local family farmers 4

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7 Farming for the Triple Bottom Line Sustainability in the 21 st Century What is sustainability? Why should we bother? How is it being achieved? Can it be adopted by mainstream agriculture? 7

8 Focus Originally on specifics of holistic management Developed as I travelled Broader picture 8

9 Discussion How sustainable is mainstream Australian agriculture? How sustainable is my farming business? Are we doing enough to address it? Are we prepared to change what we do & how we do it? 9

10 What is Sustainability? Wide range of interpretations Time-frame Not necessarily Organic Defined as: A state where the business can continue indefinitely without degrading its resources Financial, Social or Natural 10

11 Karl North NY State USA 11

12 Tom Larson Nebraska 12

13 The Triple Bottom Line Economy $ $ $ $ $ Community Ecology 13

14 Why worry about it? Our natural resources are being degraded Commercial demands Community expectations the Social License 14

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16 How is it being achieved? Managing Change Working with nature Complimentary enterprises Thinking and Decision Making Do business locally 16

17 Do We Need to Change? Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, and each time expecting a different result Albert Einstein 17

18 Change The third known constant in life after Death and Taxes Cultural Personal 18

19 Allan Richardson Avalon Organic West Otago NZ 19

20 Change Management We must manage it, not vice versa We WANT to or we HAVE to Recognise the need No change for changes sake 20

21 Working With Nature Maximise use of natural forces IPM, synergistic species and rotations Change of paradigms GM? 21

22 Joel Salatin - Virginia 22

23 Complimentary Enterprises Soil-building Greater emphasis on rotations Incorporating ruminant animals 23

24 Gary Zimmer - Wisconsin 24

25 Jimmy Weddell West Texas 25

26 Decision Making The level of thinking required to solve a problem must be greater than the level of thinking that created it in the first place Albert Einstein 26

27 Decision Making Not WHAT we think, but HOW we think Holistics Dynamic Systems Thinking V Conventional Reductionist Thinking 27

28 Factors Working Against Sustainability Economic pressures 28

29 Value Chain Analysis Cotton Shirt Banana Boat Brand RRP US$78 Contains 0.87lb cotton lint Who gets all the $$? Grower / Ginner / Warehouse Spinning and Weaving Mills Apparel Manufacturer and Wholesaler Retailer 0.8% US $ % $ % $ % $52.45 Source: Rewoven Website July 06

30 12.00 Does it concern us? $2, $2,000 Y ield - B a le s / H a $1,500 $1,000 $500 $ / ha $- Bales / ha Profit / ha Linear (Bales / ha) Linear (Profit / ha)

31 More Factors Working Against Sustainability Cultural barriers and traditions Lack of local knowledge 31

32 Rodale Institute - Pennsylvania 32

33 Rodale Institute - Pennsylvania 33

34 Research Required Slight change of focus Australian production systems Crops Rotations Management 34

35 Can it work in mainstream agriculture? Yes, but much change required Will get there eventually 35

36 Summary The principles already exist we just need the local on-ground practices Sustainability is not an option only the time-frame is There is no Silver-Bullet ωωω Line is one way of moving forward 36

37 Summary cont. Change is inevitable Build soils not just use them Its all about greater value for money!!! 37