Learning form other around the world

Two days are done and its be learning learning learning.  Learning from the other scholars that we have been networking with at morning tea, lunch and dinner . We have had presentations from amazing presenters from all over the world. Brazil, China and New Zealand of course. Each presenter really challenged and stretched our minds. I felt the overarching message was around free trade being important to improve productivity and assist with the challenge of feeding the world. What I leant  was that in New Zealand when the government embraced the free trade philosophy they also liberalized many other aspects of their own regulations that established an environment  that meant farming could really prosper. Tonight we heard from the Agriculture minister who clearly understands agriculture and wants to see agriculture grow. It appears this nation really wants to see agriculture as part of their  future.  He also claimed that there would not be one New Zealand farmer who would want to back to the days before.   In summary New Zealand have embraced free trade. They have done this by putting a supportive environment around agriculture to encourage and assist  with input costs through reduced taxes and liberalizing labour as two examples that provide this  and they have worked towards making sure their farmers are working collectively to capture the profits. Fonterra  being an example of this.