The dairy industry is a major contributor to both the New Zealand economy as a whole and to the Waikato regional economy in particular. The industry is experiencing a period of considerable change, with increases in dairy conversion, increased intensification, and increasing use of nitrogen...

DairyNZ funded a two-year study on dairy farm ownership and management structures (June 2005 to May 2007), followed by a study on dairy farm succession in 2007/08. Farm business structures affect wealth creation and distribution, and determine who the dairy industry participants are and will be,...

The aim of this study was to investigate the social influence that the recent growth of dairying has had in Southland. Over 60 semi-structured and informal interviews were undertaken with a wide cross-section of organisations and individuals. Quantitative data was used to complement the...

Animal welfare considerations are becoming increasingly important for producers of animal-derived agricultural products. Recent media attention on issues of housing conditions for intensively reared livestock and induced calving in dairy production make it clear that some members of the public...

The Agricultural Production Survey (APS) is Statistics New Zealand’s vehicle for collecting important information about New Zealand’s primary production. It is an annual postal survey and covers land use, livestock and arable farming, horticultural and forestry production, and selected farm...

Higher animal welfare standards increase costs along the supply chain of certified animal-friendly products (AFP). Since the market outcome of certified AFP depends on consumer confidence toward supply chain operators complying with these standards, the role of trust in consumer...

Dairy producers have focused on increasing production and ignored the implications this may have on resource allocation efficiency. Averaged comparative figures are used to justify the production message but these cannot distinguish the point at which diminishing profitability from additional...

Policy decisions aimed at improving farm animal welfare involve balancing several competing objectives. Not only do such decisions involve tradeoffs between social, ethical, economic and welfare considerations, animal welfare itself is a multi-dimensional concept and some husbandry practices may...

This paper updates an analysis of returns from major productive land uses in New Zealand carried out in 2008. Trends in profitability over time are shown, and a preliminary investigation of the relationship between land-use change towards forestry (new land planting) and forestry profitability...

Over the past few decades the relative price of eggs has fallen dramatically in New Zealand. This has been made possible, at least in part, by the application of increasingly intensive agricultural practices. However, there is also growing pressure from consumers and animal rights groups around...