Limits to Kiwi lesson learning

Attention is often drawn to how New Zealand benefited from the withdrawal of agricultural support, but this helpful briefing note from the AHDB points out that there are many differences between the situation in New Zealand in 1984 and that in Britain today: What can we learn from New Zealand?

In particular we should never forget that New Zealand has a particularly favourable climate for livestock with year round grazing.

There are some lessons that can be drawn:

• Should the structure of farm support change there is likely to be a challenging transition period
• In order for the UK agriculture industry to be successful post-Brexit there will need to be a focus on efficiency and streamlining
• There may be opportunities for the UK to carve out niches and for agriculture to thrive through increased vertical integration
• Agriculture operates most efficiently when decisions are based on actual market returns