Mike - farmer
When you first heard that NZ was moving to Alert Levels 3 & 4, what did you think? How did you feel?
My initial thought was ‘Brilliant! Everyone will get a holiday at the same time’ but as soon as I heard people talking about losing jobs, needing to shut their businesses or lay off staff I realised it was serious. I knew we’d need to carry on farming but I also had the instinct to batten down the hatches. I bought four chickens to make sure we’d have enough eggs, a big sack of chook feed and a 20kg bag of rice. Our freezer was full, but if we ran out of meat, I knew we could get more from the farm.
How has your job and daily routine been affected?
I have the same amount of work to do. The main difference is having more time to do odd jobs around the house and on the farm, and the chance to spend more time with my family because we haven’t been able to socialise. My evenings and weekends have been clearer without any extra commitments. We had two teenagers home from school who were keen and able to help on the farm which was a great help given the drought conditions.
What have been the best things/hardest things about the lockdown?
The best thing has been the extra time to engage with my family. There have been fewer distractions from kids’ sport, friends and socialising. Spending more time together has made us feel more like a family unit.
Buying farm supplies has been a bit harder and taken a bit longer than usual but it’s still been possible. The hardest thing has been hearing personal stories of hardship: pilots unable to fly; business owners not being able to operate as usual; poultry farmers having to cull thousands of chickens because of the sudden drop in demand for eggs from businesses like bakeries and cafes.
What have you missed/not missed?
I’ve missed seeing people other than those on the farm and in our family’s bubble, although I’ve been able to have a few yarns with our vineyard neighbours at a distance over the boundary. But I haven’t missed all the social and school commitments that usually take up a lot of time.
What have you been thinking about more/less?
The current drought has been a bigger and more important challenge for me to think about compared to Covid-19. Local farmers have been pulling together (virtually) on Facebook and by phone etc which has been really useful. I’ve also been thinking about how we can recreate a quieter routine and simpler family life when lockdown is over. We’re hoping to have a ‘Level 4 Family Lockdown’ on the first Saturday of every month where we do some activity together and have an evening meal together - with no extras like our kids’ mates.
Can you liken this time to any other time in your life?
It has reminded me of being a kid in the 1980s when there was less of everything – fewer activities, less socialising, less travel. Life was slower and less complicated. Now because of the internet and mobile phones, everything is instant and there are more distractions so it’s harder to get downtime.
What have you appreciated/felt grateful for during the lockdown?
I’ve appreciated the extra headspace, slower pace and time with my family. After making the adjustment to lockdown, we and our children got used to being together so much. There was a bit of arguing between the kids initially but we’re now all in sync. We Kiwis have been lucky to have had the natural protection (from Covid-19) of a low-density population that mainly lives in separate homes and uses minimal public transport. As farmers, we’re fortunate that the worldwide demand for healthy food and habit of cooking at home has increased during the pandemic. That’s likely to continue in the short to medium term.
What, if anything, do you think might change in the world after Covid-19 is under control or eliminated? Any silver linings?
I hope people will spend less unnecessary time and money on commuting. Many people have had a taste of working from home and proven that it can be more productive.
I hope that more people will increase their reserves – have more equity in their homes, more food in their pantry and freezers, more cash in their business – to increase their resilience and be able to survive for longer in a crisis like this.
I hope as the lockdown restrictions lift, the government will be more supportive of investing in proven industries that can help New Zealand’s economic recovery e.g. the primary industries, technology sector, domestic tourism and trans-Tasman tourism with Australia. Some examples of government support could be:
a) Reducing compliance costs where possible e.g. building consents, new environmental rules for farming
b) Tax rebates for companies investing in R&D
c) Subsidising accommodation and activities in tourist towns that are suffering e.g. Rotorua, Waitomo, Wanaka and Queenstown
In a word (or more), how do you imagine describing this time when looking back on it in a year or so?
A re-set. Everything has been turned on its head – our schedules, more people working from home, more quality time with family. It’s an opportunity to do things differently and better in the future. I can imagine people saying ‘before Covid we did things like that’ and ‘since Covid we’ve done things like this.’