Beyond the farm gate: a young farmer’s election wishlist

    Lincoln Young Farmers vice-chair Hillary Cooper says greater investment in young farmers is essential to secure the future of New Zealand agriculture.

With New Zealand now in an election year, political debate is beginning to sharpen. Inflation, infrastructure, health and the ever-rising cost of living weigh on the public mind.

But for young farmers, there is another set of questions looming just as large: who will take over the farms, who will support young people entering agriculture, and will the next government truly understand the industries that underpin much of New Zealand’s economy?

For Hillary Cooper, vice-chair of Lincoln Young Farmers, this election is personal.

2026 will be the first year Cooper is eligible to vote, and like many young people in agriculture, she sits at the crossroads of generational transition, economic uncertainty and an industry trying to redefine itself for the future.

With a new generation of farmers entering the industry ahead of the election, at the centre of Cooper’s wishlist is a simple idea: New Zealand needs to place greater value on its food and fibre sector.

“All people are asking for is for New Zealand to prioritise the food we produce,” she said.

For Cooper, that means narrowing the rural-urban divide, introducing real policy support, providing stronger industry resources and, most importantly, investing in young farmers.

“The average age of a farmer is about 65 in New Zealand,” Cooper said.

“So what’s happening now is the people of our generation are trying to enter farming and take on businesses. ‘Mum and Dad’ are selling the farm, and a lot of progeny are now looking to take over farms. That succession with properties is really big right now.”

With many young farmers preparing for farm succession, farming communities are also navigating a period of enormous instability.

While current commodity prices are relatively strong, with sheep, beef and dairy all rebounding, young farmers remain deeply aware of how quickly conditions can change.

“Currently, under the National-led government, there’s been a real drive to have a stable economy. It’s been a real talking point for them, and at the moment, farmers are making money,” Cooper told the Guardian.

“But if there was a dramatic change of government, no matter who gets what or where, that could easily change. Therefore, income changes, and potential plans for succession or development are going to change.”

Going into an election, change can be a terrifying thing, Cooper admitted.

“The industry is on a balancing scale all of the time,” she said. “We’re so susceptible to change that we find it repellant.”

Environmental reforms, compliance demands, market shifts and climate volatility all arrive against a backdrop of already stretched businesses.

“The last 10 years for arable and sheep and beef has just been an absolute shocker,” she said.

“So when people come with new ideas, or when there are changes to government or policy, they don’t feel they can take the risk.”

Dairy farmers, like Cooper, have the ability to see what their cows are producing every day, twice a day.

“They can look at the milk pump, and they know exactly how much their cows are producing and exactly how much they’re going to earn that day,” she said.

“Sheep, beef and arable, they don’t see it till the end. They’ve got a lot of money they’ve got to put in first before they see the end result. So somebody comes to them with an idea of change, and they’ve got to put that into their budget based on nothing.”

That is the difference between industries, Cooper explained.

“That’s why you can’t put them all in one box.

“They’re not interchangeable. It’s perceived on a governance level that the industry is doing really well as a whole, but actually, you’ve got two industries.”

That distinction, she told the Guardian, is misunderstood by policymakers and the public alike.

As a result, risk tolerance differs dramatically across sectors.

“Even if dairy is doing well, arable are battling to take the weight, and that’s when resources and money need to be allocated to these guys,” Cooper said.

At the top of Cooper’s election wishlist is greater support from government agencies, particularly the Ministry for Primary Industries.

She wants easier access to funding, more support for implementing policy changes and greater investment in organisations working directly with farmers on the ground.

“Number one on my wishlist will always be better access to funding from ministries, like MPI.

“Access to funding and more support for regulation and policies, those are my priorities.”

That extends to funding for industry-good organisations, such as Beef + Lamb New Zealand, which Cooper said are already stretched too thin.

“They just don’t have enough support, enough access to money or enough people to spread across the country to meet everyone’s demands.”

For Cooper, investing in those support systems and dedicating more resources to agriculture would make generational transition that much easier.

Extending resources for primary industries should also extend to education policy.

“It’s not as simple as making agriculture compulsory,” she said, “which is always a big talking point in the industry. But our school kids should be a priority for policymakers.”

Hillary Cooper believes the next government must better support farm succession, agricultural education and pathways for young people entering the primary sector.

Cooper told the Guardian that an incoming government should focus on improving access to agricultural education and practical learning opportunities, particularly in lower-decile schools.

“Those kids often need it the most,” she said. “They love it. They thrive in it. And practical skills are a big part of it too.”

For Cooper, and many young farmers like her, the election is an opportunity for cultural change, a shift in the relationship between farmers and policymakers.

“What would change is the ability for farmers to keep confidence in the government and its decisions.

“The public eye is massive in the food and fibre sector, and if the government isn’t paying you any attention or providing support, you’re at a loss already before you even start.”

Strong policy is essential if New Zealand agriculture is going to remain globally competitive, Cooper said.

“I’m a true believer that policy is a good thing. We have to change with the world. We have to keep up.”

The problem comes, she explained, when farmers lose trust in the people creating those rules.

“If you don’t believe in the people making those decisions, you’ll never comply.

“And without compliance, you’ll never export as much, you’ll never make as much money, and it’s just this horrible cycle.”

The relationship between government and rural communities is one Cooper hopes will improve after the election.

“Rural does run towns here in New Zealand.

“That’s why people stay in farming. That’s why people stay in these rural areas, because you get more of a sense of community there than you do anywhere else.”

Without farmers, she said, many small communities would struggle to survive.

“If you didn’t have farmers, you wouldn’t have a community. The bakery wouldn’t succeed, the school would be empty.”

Despite the pressures, Cooper told the Guardian, farming continues to attract people because of the sense of belonging it offers.

“It’s an industry where you can all communicate the same way. You drive the same type of vehicle. You’ve got everything in common, and the battles that you face, like in the arable sector at the moment, everyone’s in the same boat.”

That shared sense of community becomes especially important during difficult seasons.

“That’s why people stay. Like these arable croppers, it’s not just you feeling the pinch, it’s old Jimmy down the road too. And that’s what gets them through, because you know that no matter what happens now, in five years’ time, you and Jimmy are still going to be in it together.”

Still, the industry faces a serious recruitment challenge.

Young workers often confront isolation, difficult hours and comparatively low wages, while people outside rural communities may never consider agriculture a viable career.

“The people who are going into farming are the people who grew up in farming and were always going to go into farming.”

To survive long term, Cooper told the Guardian, the industry must become more open, more welcoming and more adaptable.

“The amount of young people that have got to come into our industry to make it survive in the next 15 years is beyond anyone’s imagination.”

Many young people still struggle to see clear pathways into farm ownership or management, even when education opportunities exist.

“Farming is seen as labour work, not a business,” Cooper said, and is too often viewed solely as physical labour rather than business management.

That perception often prevents talented young people from entering the industry, especially those without farming backgrounds.

One of agriculture’s biggest challenges is “who we ‘let’ into the industry”, Cooper said.

“We have to broaden our skill input.

“There’s a real stigma that you should be off a farm, or old Nana should own a farm, for somebody in your family to be good at the job,” she said. “And that’s absolutely bullshit.”

In Cooper’s view, some of the most valuable future contributors to agriculture may come from outside traditional farming circles entirely.

As election day approaches, Cooper’s message to politicians is ultimately straightforward: support the industries that feed the country, invest in the next generation and stop treating agriculture as an afterthought.

“Don’t kick where you eat from!

“The whole line, ‘backbone of the country’, does come to mind. Whoever gets in has to prioritise the economy. And with the economy comes the farmers.

“Valuing the young people more than anything now is key.”