Sustainable Food Production

What we’re doing in New Zealand

New Zealand’s farmers and growers produce great food for New Zealand and the world. They’re used to looking ahead because planning for the future is crucial for any successful enterprise.

The future success of New Zealand’s farming communities will depend increasingly on good environmental management and sustainable food production.

At Rabobank, we can help you prepare for a successful future by working alongside you and making your business more sustainable both commercially and environmentally.

Reducing food waste and supporting KiwiHarvest

Worldwide, around 40% of all food produced doesn’t make it to people’s plates. Food waste also contributes to greenhouse gas emissions and it squanders the water, land and energy used to grow it.

Rabobank is on a mission to do something about it.

You can read more about opportunities to reduce food waste here and find out about our exciting new partnership with food rescue charity KiwiHarvest.

New Zealand Farm Environment Trust Partnership

Rabobank is a long-term strategic partner of the New Zealand Farm Environment Trust, which administers the Ballance Farm Environment Awards.

The Trust’s focus on sharing information among farmers and best-practice management of natural resources means its goals are closely aligned to ours.

Our staff around the country play a significant role on the judging panels for the 11 regional Ballance Farm Environment award programmes, as well as on the national awards judging committee. This provides them with a first-hand view of farming best practice and the opportunity to learn from award entrants and other members of the judging panels.

Working with sector participants to improve the flow of sustainable finance

Under the umbrella of the Aotearoa Circle, Rabobank joined forces with the Ministry of Primary Industries and other banks in early 2020 to develop guidance for integrating sustainability considerations into funding for New Zealand’s agricultural sector. The guidance was released in July 2021 and draws on domestic and international frameworks, alongside good farming practice and is ultimately a tool to help banks in their decision making.

Following the release of the new material, it is anticipated Rural Bank Finance will increasingly be guided by sustainability considerations including climate change mitigation and adaption, water use, waste minimisation, labour rights and animal welfare.

You can find out more about the Aotearoa Circle and the new guidance here.

• Find out how contaminants are leaving your farming system.  
• Investigate the range of options available to reduce your losses (DairyNZ, B+LNZ and council websites are a good source of information).
• Get involved with local catchment groups providing farmers with solutions to local issues.
• Take advantage of freely available services/resources (such as DairyNZ Sustainable Milk Plans, B+LNZ Land Environment Plans or any free environmental workshops).
• Develop a farm plan for increasing sustainability over time.

• Discuss with the person who prepared your Overseer Nutrient Budget how it can be used to improve your nutrient efficiency.
• Refrain from making any major system changes and/or investments without fully understanding the economic and environmental implications.
• Focus on sustainability activities that are most cost-efficient first before moving to more expensive mitigations.
• Watch where water converges when it rains to get an idea of where to focus.
• Implement only those activities that are relevant to your property's contaminant loss.