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Will farming kill NZ's tech industries?

For the past couple of years we've been riding high on the cow's back, with international prices for dairy produce reaching all-time highs.

The massive hike in farm incomes these record prices produced has trickled down to contribute significantly to our robust economy, massive government surpluses and general fiscal wellbeing.

Surely it's obvious that farming is the lifeblood of New Zealand and dwarfs any technology-based export earners, so why not pour more money into expanding this "winner" industry?

It sure sounds like a great idea doesn't it? I'm sure you've also seen the ads on TV which seek to recruit new farmers into the dairying industry by showcasing the lifestyle, the earnings and the other benefits of such a venture.

Unfortunately there are a few problems which should ring alarm bells and remind us that farming is unlikely to remain the cash-cow it currently represents.

While it's presently "cool to be in cows", I have a sneaky feeling that within 10 years the geeks will once again be as fashionable as they were in the late 1990s "dot-com boom".

So what's going to knock the milking shed out from under the hoofs of our farming industry?

First-up we have the vagarities of climate change and the extreme vulnerability of all farming sectors to such influences.

You only have to look at how quickly Waikato dairy farmers have gone from "raking it in" to now crying out for assistance in the face of a drought that has taken less than two months to slash their production levels to realise just how vulnerable they are.

If we put all our eggs in the same basket of cows, we're being absolutely stupid and that would be a move which comes back to bite us on the bum big-time.

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Then we have the environmental impact of all this farming, particularly dairy.

Trevor Mallard is reportedly defending the pulling a rather devastating "Chapter 13" from a report that already slammed NZ as being "not quite as green as we think".

According to those who've seen it, Chapter 13 contained a damning indictment of the way our farming practices are damaging our environment -- so increasing this sector even further would only exacerbate the problem.

And here in the South Waikato, we're seeing huge tracts of carbon-soaking forest being cut down and converted to methane-belching dairy farm. How much will that cost us in carbon offsets and environmental damage I wonder?

It's not as if we're devoid of any other options.

We actually do have a wealth of clever people trying to turn good ideas into commercial realities but they're finding the going hard because of our other messed-up attitude to fiscal management.

I'm talking about the Kiwi addiction to property investment.

Most people in other western nations are far more inclined to invest in productive ventures rather than those which simply rely on capital gains or rental incomes.

This means that in countries like the USA, those clever-cloggs who are sitting on "the next big thing" often find themselves spoilt for choice when seeking venture capital partners. Here in NZ, unless you're planning on building a new commercial or apartment building, finding funding is a real challenge.

And you don't think we've got smart folks?

Well how about this story run by BBC today?

Personally I think it's lame (pun intended) but obviously a bunch of US and Canadian academics have faith in it, as do those who are funding the startup that has been formed to commercialise the concept.

But hang on -- didn't I see something *very* similar on an episode of Let's Get Inventin? If I think back a couple of years I recall that a young Kiwi by the name of Alex Drinkwater came up with the same concept to power a cellphone charger. In fact, if you check a-ways down this page you'll even see a picture of the device attached to young Alex's leg.

Unfortunately, because those who hold the purse-strings and draft the fiscal future of the country seem to be blinkered and in denial of the potential wrapped up in our bright young sparks, I suspect Alex is probably now working in a milking shed somewhere, while his clever idea earns a fortune for others, half a world away.

So my question for today is:

Is our reliance on primary industries and capital gains from the property market effectively strangling essential investment in knowledge-based industries?

Shouldn't we be pouring money into new technology that will help save the planet rather than old industries that look set to ankle-tap themselves by contributing to the very global warming that makes them vulnerable to sudden decline?

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