Farmers’ livelihoods could be at stake as New Zealand faces a flour and wheat crisis, warns Mid Canterbury sector leaders.

At the heart of the industry-threatening situation is the potential collapse of vital wheat-development programmes, which are struggling to stay financially viable and putting the entire arable industry at risk.

That’s the view from respected family-owned Luisetti Seeds, which have bases in Ashburton and Rangiora and specialise in seed production domestically and around the world.

The company’s managing director Ed Luisetti knows too well that fertile Mid Canterbury and the wider Canterbury Plains are world-renowned for producing high quality seed, but he also knows that is now in danger.

According to Luisetti, the situation has reached a critical tipping point because wheat-breeding programmes, which develop grain varieties tailored to New Zealand’s climate and pests, are in jeopardy.

Those programmes are essential for producing the milling wheat that becomes flour, a staple ingredient in the nation’s food supply.

But they are no longer making enough money to cover costs.

Luisetti revealed that breeding new wheat varieties costs about $750,000 and could take up to a decade.

Programmes from various seed producers are running all the time, but they may be forced to shut down entirely if they don’t turn a profit within the next 12 to 18 months.

"It would be personally gut-wrenching,” Luisetti said."But it would also have a significant impact on the arable industry as a whole.”

A lack of purpose-bred milling wheat would mean New Zealand could not produce flour anymore

"We’ll still grow wheat for animal feed, but that can’t be used to make flour. "You’ve only got one market then, and that’s the feed market.”

That feed market was already saturated, particularly in the North Island, so the grim prospect of relying on imported milling wheat looms large.

But should any import disruption occur – like port strikes, shipping damage, or another pandemic – then New Zealand could face a flour shortage.

Luisetti said the main issue for Mid Canterbury and South Island grain growers generally were transport costs, with it being cheaper to import wheat from halfway across the world – like Canada – than it was to freight it from the South to the North Island.

"The Cook Strait is an expensive piece of water, as you know."

"Our infrastructure across it isn’t great.

"If we were able to get milling wheat to the North Island cheaper, you’d hope those mills would be using South Island grain rather than importing it from Australia.”

Federated Farmers’ arable chairperson David Birkett was recently even more to the point about the import costs, saying it was "madness’’.

That’s why Luisetti has suggested that the Government could subsidise transportation costs, similar to Australia’s Tasmanian Freight Equalisation Scheme.

The scheme provides financial assistance for Tasmanian industries shipping their produce across the Bass Strait, giving them an equal shot at competing with mainland markets.

"It’s done wonderful things for Tasmania,” Luisetti said.

Bradley Fields’ farm co-director Brian Leadley said some farmers were considering other transport options.

"We’ve now got this new rail hub in Ashburton, which is relatively central to a lot of the milling wheat production. That could handle containers of grain.”

"That gets it to Picton but then you’ve got to have reliable ferries.”

Unfortunately, Kiwirail’s plans to buy new ferries were halted by the Government in May when costs ballooned to $3 billion.

Leadley suspects political motives were behind the Government’s decision to scrap it, believing they wouldn’t "have walked away from that, and the money spent, for no reason.”

Leadley and other members of the Arable Food Industry Council have met with Associate Minister of Agriculture Nicola Grigg to discuss their concerns.

While no immediate changes were expected, Leadley welcomed the Government’s engagement with the industry.

"It’s just good to have contact with someone who’s interested in preserving the industry.”

By Anisha Satya