K52 Reports

This report covers animal welfare in New Zealand’s dairy industry, focusing on cattle, goats, and sheep. Key issues include lameness, painful procedures, and surplus offspring.

The food and fibre sector, a cornerstone of Aotearoa’s economy, thrives when rangatahi Māori lead. This report outlines barriers, strategies, and a vision for inclusivity.

This report examines how partnerships in New Zealand's food and fibre sector create value for farmers and growers by focusing on purpose, trust, and communication to deliver social, productivity, and profitability benefits.

This report investigates the impact of climate change on Waikato's agriculture, highlighting risks like increased heat stress and drought for livestock farming, while identifying opportunities for diversifying land use.

This report explores how leadership development can be enhanced for mid-career professionals in New Zealand's agrifood sector, addressing gaps and promoting inclusivity and innovation.

This report explores sustainable alternatives to peat for mushroom farming in New Zealand, focusing on wood fiber blends to reduce reliance while maintaining yield and quality.

This report aims to identify key inflexion points for New Zealand agriculture to adopt sustainable practices, enhance market opportunities, and drive systemic transformation through collaborative value chains.

This report aims to show how Māori land trusts in Te Moana a Toi apply Kaitiakitanga principles to achieve sustainable governance and long-term intergenerational well-being.

This research project seeks to understand how young dairy farmers in
Northland have got ahead and to learn from their examples and experiences.

Access to capital is constraining the sector's sustainability, productivity, and transition to the next generation of farmers.

This research paper aims to identify the key skills that drive profitability in NZ's dairy farming sector and explore how targeted training and development can enhance farm performance and overall economic resilience.

With a changing New Zealand climate causing more frequent and more severe dry spells, including in regions previously seen as less vulnerable, the reliability of supplying food to meet our goals and expectations is in question.

This report aims to analyse how high performing farm businesses reach and sustain the levels of performance, resilience and wellbeing they do.

Exploring, educating, and applying low-stress livestock handling to benefit the people, product and perception of New Zealand’s beef industry.

This research examines why lean red meat is good for your immune system, brain health, and weight management, as well as some challenges and opportunities in promoting this to the customer.

This report explores the evolving landscape of gene technology in NZ, focusing on the implications of genetic modification (GM) and the New Breeding Techniques (NBTs) for the agricultural sector.

This report explores New Zealand's shift to shedding sheep, highlighting economic, environmental, and welfare benefits. It emphasises reduced costs, improved productivity, and sustainable practices, with solutions for drench resistance. The report advocates for innovation, collaboration, and ongoing research to ensure long-term farm resilience and market viability of New Zealand's sheep farming sector.

This report investigates the trusted sources of advice for NZ kiwifruit growers during biosecurity and adverse weather events, with a focus on understanding the drivers of trust within the industry.

This paper investigates whether the use of Sports Psychology tools could be that one percent advantage, what the most applicable tools are and how they might be implemented.

The management of non-replacement calves, or bobby calves, is a constant challenge for the NZ Dairy industry. This report investigates potential options for reducing bobby calf numbers.

This report seeks to demonstrate how non-regulatory farm planning benefits sheep and beef farmers via a framework for managing resources and identifying opportunities.

This research examines NZ horticulture's views on soil health and explores opportunities to elevate it as a key measure of sustainability.

This report aims to provide insight from a grower’s perspective on the opportunities and challenges of arable farming in Canterbury for the future.

This report seeks to ensure that Central Otago’s horticulture industry remains robust, sustainable, and attractive to both current and future professionals.