The future of rural contracting

By Roger Parton
Executive director
Rural Contractors New Zealand

What a world we live in. The weather is unpredictable and the financial markets volatile. Both pose serious threats to the rural contracting sector as well as many other parts of the economy. Add to this the ongoing business compliance and bureaucracy that is imposed by central and local governments and it is hard to know how or what to plan for.

But plan we must because the potential for New Zealand to be a significant producer of food is immense. Rural Contractors New Zealand recently met to consider this, amongst other things, and one of the key issues that was identified was the need for training, qualifications and recognition of such by those who engage rural contractors.

Rural Contractors New Zealand has already introduced a registered contractor scheme which is up and running. We are looking at how we reflect qualifications in a qualified contractors scheme. There is, of course, the registered chemical applicator status for those who are qualified to spray chemicals.

The need to ensure that people are qualified for the work they do comes in three areas. Ensuring you get what you pay for is the first. Making sure that you, the person who engages the contractor, are not left liable in the case of accident, default or other failure. But probably the most important emerging issue is the one of traceability.  Overseas markets are now insisting that the producers of food and other goods are able to show that not only has the producer met all requirements, but that every contractor, subcontractor and others involved in the production process have met all necessary legal, regulatory and social requirements in their work.

How will this affect the producer and the contractor? Sainsbury’s in the UK is understood to have spent about £400 million, developing a branding that will illustrate to the consumer the extent of the carbon footprint made in the production of the item, with the intent that consumers will opt for the product with the least carbon footprint.

In New Zealand, we have some disadvantage in regards to our location, being just about the furthest you can get from Europe. So, we have to balance that by ensuring all other aspects of the production process are spot on. That means traceability.

So next time you look to engage a rural contractor, first establish what qualifications they have. If they are not registered, ask why. After all, it is going to be your customer that will be asking you to certify that everyone engaged in the production of the produce you are trying to sell, did everything by the book.

Adverse weather and financial markets aside, planning now for the known eventualities makes good business and financial sense.