Arable farmers were challenged to find the ‘next billion dollar industry’ as the New Zealand Grain and Seed Trade Association held their annual Grains and Pulses Forum in Ashburton last week.

Edward Luisetti, managing director of Luisetti seeds and vice president of the association, said the forum gets farmers together to discuss the state of the arable industry.

More than 70 people attended the conference to hear from economists, MPs and innovators in the arable field.

Attendants got a walkthrough of the Luisetti Seeds facility to kick off the event.

The warehouses sport four cleaning lines and four seed treaters, and this combined with the Rangiora facility means all the seed cleaning is done in-house.

“The pea seeds we grow for processing companies have been a bit of a shining star over the last few years.”

The warehouse processes everything from peas to barley and wheat, which Luisetti hopes to keep more of back in the country.

“There’s a lot of milling wheat imported, and we want to educate consumers to look to buy New Zealand grain.”

Associate Minister for Agriculture Nicola Grigg laid out a challenge as part of the government goal to double export revenue by 2034.

“I’m looking for the next billion dollar industry. We’ve got kiwi [fruit] and we’ve got apples, so what’s the next big one?”

Senior consultant Nick Roberston said that slow global growth and the larger farming industrieshad contributed to the country’s fall in revenue.

“It’s been the other primary industries - horticulture, seafood and arable - that’ve limited this overall fall in our export revenues.”

Robertson said arable exports are forecast to hit $290 million in 2024, up $18 million from last year’s batch.

Thomas Chin, general manager of the association, said the forum gives farmers a chance to reconnect while getting a rundown of the industry’s outlook.

“There are a lot of dynamic factors and influences that have bearing on the future of the grains sector of New Zealand, as Nick and the other presenters spoke on.”

By Anisha Satya