What steps are you taking to stay competitive and resilient in the face of domestic and global challenges?
Being a child of the 80s I still recall the rural conversations that took place amidst the cigarette smoke haze in the Patearoa Pub. It was a time of disruption for New Zealand farming.
Reflecting on this time there are many lessons that can guide us in 2024. Attention to budgeting, good communication with our advisors and striving for efficiencies both behind and beyond the farm gate. These are timeless strategies.
In 2024 some more novel wicked problems have evolved which our parents did not have to contend with in the 80’s. Where I come from in the Maniototo, I can’t remember a time in my life when freshwater was not a discussion point, it’s now coupled with heightened conversations around our environment, a changing climate, greenhouse gas emissions and a heightened public interest in what we do.
Its complex, often tangled, then sometimes not tangled at all. But if that was not enough it is also coupled with another difference from the ‘80s which is the magnitude and diversity of internet enabled, social media hyped information we have access to.
In today’s world we have fingertip access to an unprecedented amount of information. An abundance that can overwhelm our ability to discern what is important, separate the pearls from the pebbles, the experts from the influencers. It is it difficult to identify key messages amidst the noise.
Emotionally charged headlines will always grab our attention – that’s how our brains are wired. When I am time poor and tired, it can be easy to grab a memorable headline or a key statement, and difficult to get through an entire article, let alone fact-check and background the author.
Future-focused business decisions demand a higher level of due-diligence. It is easy to find the information that appeals but I like to be a tougher critic on what I see as ‘easy’ to agree with. Who is feeding me this information? What are their credentials and qualifications? Who is paying them? What are their motivations? More than ever before we need the discipline to question the sources and be wary of emotional appeals that oversimplify complexity.
I’ve started exploring AI, more specifically ChatGPT. ChatGPT can help critique information quickly - not only fact-checking, but also emotion-checking, logic-checking, and source - checking. I have found that AI can shine a light on articles that are more likely to mis-lead than enlighten me.
But it’s important to keep it human. Seeking perspective from trusted peers remains key as well as confidence in our own critical thinking, not fully outsourcing it all to technology. Balancing technological insights with human judgement.
There is no shortage of challenges in farming today. But we have the benefit of lessons learned from the past, the advantage of modern technology, trusted networks and maintaining a critically reflective mindset. With all of this, New Zealand farmers are well-positioned to tackle today’s challenges and secure a sustainable future for our farms and communities.
