SMASH is breaking new ground this season, running a project looking into the pathways dairy farmers take into farm ownership.
It's underpinned by the Ministry for Primary Industry’s Sustainable Food and Fibre Futures funding. This is alongside running its usual events, including the popular field days, which always get a great turnout. Without a doubt it is more difficult to buy a farm nowadays than it was for past generations. SMASH’s project is investigating how people have successfully bought farms, whether through traditional or novel methods.
It is also finding out what is preventing farmers from buying farms and what they are doing instead, what their career motivations and goals are, and how the industry might be able to help farmers into farm ownership. At the end of the process, it is going to share its findings, and also the stories of how farmers have successfully bought farms in recent times. The project will wrap up next year with a series of field days hosted by inspirational farm owners.
Anna Kalma is SMASH’s national coordinator and is in charge of running the farm ownership project alongside her regular job organising events.
“It was during the $3.90 pay-out year, so things were pretty grim. I remember meeting somebody a few years later who said that the topics around managing farm working expenses, and some of the sentiments shared on the day, really encouraged them at a time when they were thinking about ditching farming.”
This is a common thread in the feedback from SMASH events: that the topics are practical and relevant to current farmer issues, and there is a really supportive community feel to them.
Anna is enthusiastic about her involvement in SMASH, which she says has plenty of upsides. “I enjoy meeting farmers from around the country, learning about their systems and regional differences,” she says.
“We get great feedback from those who attend our events, and the lunches put on by the locals, especially the primary school PTAs, are great. Then there are our committee meetings run by a fantastic group of enthusiastic farmers with heaps of ideas.
“It is also a novelty being recognised as a SMASH person in the street, including once in New York City!”
SMASH was established in 2010 with the goal of supporting dairy farmers with smaller than average-sized herds. Since then it has evolved and grown in popularity, and now farmers with herds of all sizes come to its well-attended events.
“SMASH couldn’t do it without the staunch support of its team of sponsors (Ballance Agri-Nutrients, Barenbrug, BNZ, FMG, LIC, and Pioneer), some of whom have been on-board since the start, and its major partner, DairyNZ,” says Anna.