B+LNZ’s farmer levy-funded work is focused on achieving our strategic vision of thriving sheep and beef farmers, now and into the future.
Levies are invested in targeted programmes that deliver value to farmers.
We focus on supporting farmers directly on-farm.
Pooling farmer levies means B+LNZ can also work in areas where individual farmers can’t, such as:
- investment into research and development that drives productivity improvements
- world leading extension
- having a voice with government policymakers domestically on key issues and globally to ensure our markets remain open.
How levies are invested
The amount varies but generally B+LNZ receives around $30 million in levies income each year.
Levy investment is guided by the B+LNZ strategy – find our latest strategy here. The B+LNZ Board approves how levies are invested each year – more information on the Board here.
By far the biggest proportion of levy investment is focused behind the farm gate on work that lifts productivity and profitability.
How we know we’re investing in the right places
Every year we carry out an in-depth review of income, activity priorities and reserve levels to ensure we’re spending the right amount on the right activities.
We also frequently seek farmer feedback on levy-funded priorities and work – including through regular surveys and workshops, and groups that act as key sounding boards (B+LNZ Farmer Council and Kāhui, and Farmer Research Advisory Group and Environment Reference Group). For more information about feedback channels see the ‘Have your say’ page.
What the levy has delivered
You can read about what we’ve achieved in any given year, and find full financial statements, in our independently audited Annual Reports – see the ‘Corporate documents’ page.
Examples of where we’ve added significant value for farmers over the past few years include (but are not limited to):
- significant productivity gains for sheep, and now increased funding for beef genetics
- groundbreaking tools like Bella, the B+LNZ Knowledge Hub assistant powered by AI, who puts around $100 million of research on behalf of farmers over the past 20 years into farmers’ hands 24/7
- more boots on the ground, delivering different types of practical, farmer-led extension
- climate change policy wins – revised methane targets, no agricultural emissions pricing, and restrictions on whole-farm conversions being entered into the ETS for carbon farming
- cross-sector and Government support for work to maximise dairy-beef opportunities for non-replacement dairy calves.
Maximising the value of the levy
We maximise the value of levy investment by partnering with others for greater impact and efficiency. Using pooled funds means we’re better able to leverage outside investment.
Over the past few years we’ve leveraged tens of millions of dollars of Government and other co-funding on levy investments into important research programmes.