A year-long trial has shown that beef patties can be produced sustainably across the supply chain in New Zealand, according to the Ministry for Primary industries.
The project was set up to help to meet growing demand for ethical and sustainably sourced products.
Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon
Rick Burke, a farmer near Katikati in the Bay of Plenty who took part in the trail, told Jesse Mulligan he has been moving his beef and sheep farm onto a more sustainable footing since the mid-90s.
“Back in the ‘90s we found out we had issues with our fresh water there was a lot of sediment going out into the harbour and having a detrimental effect on the ecology out there. I’m a keen fisherman and surfer and I thought we’ve got to do something about that.”
That led to, in collaboration with the council, the development of a farm plan.
“It was focussed on improving our fresh water quality, which was about a two out of ten back then now it’s regarded as a nine or ten out of ten.”
He says the improvement in water quality was achieved through creating these environmental corridors around the five streams that run through the farm.
The sustainable patties trial was instigated by the New Zealand Round Table for Sustainable Beef, Burke says, driven by the idea that farmers drive sustainability rather than wait for prescriptive regulations.
“We can get ahead of this and get some standards that will work for farmers, owned by farmers and take the lead of the game rather than having the regulatory stick coming behind them.
“I’m all for that, because as has been demonstrated on our farm, we’ve taken ownership of the issue we’ve tailored the changes we’ve made to our farming landscapes which is really important rather than having a prescriptive regulatory approach.”
Burke believes the trial shows the way for opportunities in the marketplace.
“The discerning consumer is asking questions of our plans for clean and green and we’ve got to demonstrate it, we’ve got to have ethical and robust standards.”
As part of this trial he had to crunch numbers on his farm’s carbon and methane emissions from 1998 to this year.
“On this farm we’ve reduced our emissions by 60 percent, it’s a seriously good story.”
He thinks once farmers see the benefits of the trial, they will come on board.
“If you are thinking of taking your farm to a whole new space in terms of redesign and future proofing it it’s sort of a light bulb moment.
“I can take my farm to a whole new level in terms of profitability, improving fresh water, biodiversity and reducing our carbon footprint.”
The trial used the McDonalds supply chain, he says, which measured carbon, biodiversity, fresh water quality and animal welfare.
He says there are other less hard-headed benefits on the farm too.
“We’ve pulled out old photos of what the farm looked like, and no disrespect to the previous owners because they did the first hard yards, but we’ve just taken it to that next level.
“We’ve got gullies around our house here that were completely devoid of trees or birds and now we’ve got kererū and tiwakawaka and all the other birds coming in…. and that’s got to be rewarding.”
