What is a Future Farm?
The intention of a Future Farm is to demonstrate to farmers, and others, how new technologies and systems impact performance, while maintaining the highest production standards within a leading environment footprint.
Listen to Sam McIvor and Andrew Morrison talk about B+LNZ investment into Future Farm
How do new ideas get considered for Future Farm?
New ideas or proposals are directed to the Stakeholder Group.
The Stakeholder Group will screen and assess to ensure it will best meet the needs of the farm and its strategic objectives. A request is then generated for proposals from potential suppliers, which will then be reviewed and evaluated by the Stakeholder Group. A recommendation is then made to the Advisory Panel.
The Advisory Panel will then review the recommendation to ensure the solution will meet the performance needs of the business, and reports back to the Stakeholder Group.
The Stakeholder Group then makes a recommendation to the North Canterbury Future Farm Board who will make the commercial investment decision.
The Stakeholder Group
The Stakeholder Group is made up of farmers and industry stakeholders.
They are the entry point for proposed innovations for the farm. The Stakeholder Group will share their collective wisdom, skill and experience to identify new technology and systems, but also consider, evaluate and review proposals from others. They will pass final recommendations on to the Advisory Panel for review, and then the Stakeholder Group will make their recommendation to the North Canterbury Future Farm Board for investment consideration.
Key areas of focus:
The Advisory Panel
The Advisory Panel has nine participants and is a team of experts who can work collaboratively, yet test conformity, in pushing the boundaries of performance evaluation.
They will review the farm performance and analyse this against industry best practice. They will identify some key performance indicators for the farm which can be used to enable farmers in other regions to match their farm against Future Farm. They will also have a role in reviewing initiatives proposed by the Stakeholder Group, to ensure the impact of these can be measured on farm.
Download the Advisory Panel composition and operation pdf
“The organisation’s vision for the Future Farm was to inspire vibrant farming communities by demonstrating farming excellence. This aligns with the organisation’s wider strategy and vision of “profitable farmers, thriving farming communities valued by all New Zealanders.”