The Why We Grow Show The Why We Grow Show

We’re pressuring farmers to solve complex challenges like water quality, but are we missing the bigger picture? What about the fundamentals around our food system model – the unpaid true cost of food, disconnected customers and the lack of incentives that support lighter farming.

Through the Taupo Beef brand, Mike & Sharon Barton are rebuilding the model on a foundation of transparency, conservation advocacy and fair prices for farmers. Their B2B and B2C brand proves that it’s possible to farm within limits, earn a living and bring people along for the journey.

All this talk about upending business as usual, moving up the value chain and diversifying our land use is great – but without the energy, entrepreneurial spirit and boldness of young people, we’re not going anywhere. We asked Rob Barry, Sustainability Lead at BEL Group, a New Zealand Young Farmer's board member and 27 year old millennial, what it will take to inspire a new generation of farmers.

Rob opens up right at the start, describing the generational differences in farming mindset and culture. This show follows a theme that’s run throughout this whole series, one we never really expected when we started. That how we choose to farm is an expression of ourselves, how we see our place in the world, our past and in some cases, our pain.

Bailey Peryman is helping young people grow – literally. Through Cultivate Christchurch, an urban farm in the heart of the garden city, Bailey and the team are pioneering a new type of food system - local, circular and centred on human health and connection. Cultivate is about more than food though. Through their internship program, the Cultivate team are empowering young Kiwis to rebound back from hardship and grow lives they truly value. Person by person, Bailey is showing us the transformational power of putting our hands in the soil and living a life of food and farming.

A new generation of eaters are championing plant-based diets and veganism as a response to the health, animal ethics and environmental challenges of our time. We invited a rising star in the Kiwi Vegan space, Chris Huriwai, to articulate the pull of this powerful new movement and discuss why Kiwi farmers need to take notice. 

Untethering ourselves from the boom and bust of the commodity markets means embracing land use change. We ask Dan Steele from Blue Duck Station, a 7200acre property based on the banks of the Whanganui and Retaruke Rivers, what diversification means to him, the marketing and mentality needed to make it happen and the barriers farmers face in moving away from the single yield model. 

Farming for biodiversity gains, soil enrichment and community – welcome to the regenerative frontier. This low-input, holistic farming model increasingly looks like a pathway for Kiwi farmers to tackle the economic, social license and environmental challenges heading our way. We ask Greg Hart, a sheep & beef farmer in the Hawke’s Bay about his regenerative journey, the challenges and benefits of the system and his advice for others.