Kellogg Programme Reports

Market signals and regulation necessitates sustainably produced products that meet the expectations of the conscious consumer and society. These will require improved ways of doing what has been done before and in some cases a transformative change. This report identifies barriers facing New Zealand farmers towards innovating and taking on new technologies.

The aim of this report is to explore whether there are opportunities to improve animal welfare through climate change action. Beginning with a literature review of animal welfare and climate change articles, thematic analysis was then used to code common themes and compare and contrast the information. Using heat stress as an example several areas where greenhouse gas mitigation could improve animal welfare outcomes have been identified.

This research was conducted with the purpose of understanding more deeply the current market in which we are operating and where our social licence currently sits. The major focus of our industry appears to be a focus on telling our story, which relies entirely on the truth of that story being palatable to the New Zealand public and the assumption that rural New Zealand shares the same worldview as urban New Zealand.

In this body of work I will aim to identify how meat processors in New Zealand are harnessing their sustainability potential and responsibility, why it is important and how their social licence to operate is affected during this process. To truly understand this, I have conducted interviews with red meat industry leaders to hear their experiences and learn about what action they are taking. I have also looked at literature relating to social licence to operate, sustainability and how our actions alter our supply chain within New Zealand’s export significant, red meat sector.

Historically, the primary constraint on moving to a high input system has been the financial and management ability of the farm and business operators. While this is still a significant factor, the environmental impacts of dairy farming have come under increased scrutiny.

The Northland Region of New Zealand is a vital province for agriculture, horticulture, and forestry and, with its subtropical climate and mixed topography, offers a key competitive advantage. Our choices about land today can be irreversible and will affect future generations and the potential production and profitability of our industry.

Initial findings suggested such a system presents significant financial and environmental advantages that may be exploited by individual producers and industry bodies alike.

The aim of this study was to investigate the extent of the labour shortage in the kiwifruit industry especially within postharvest, and how technology led innovation can help to ease the burden of the shortage in labour.

How can permaculture-design inform the implementation of regenerative agriculture principles to address global macro-challenges while creating better outcomes for pastoral farming in New Zealand?

This project is concerned with understanding the learnings and insights specific to Tai Tokerau and how they can inform enduring, sustainable agricultural production systems to unlock opportunities for future generations in Waima.

The main goal for this report is to raise awareness for consumers to make the environmentally friendly decision to buy wool and encourage the industry as a whole to stand together, to pull the wool market out of the doldrums and put it back into the flourishing fibre position it deserves to be.

A flourising horticulture ecosystem, not only provides diversification of economic returns, but also encourages value chain partners to establish in Northland, thus increasing the skill base and opportunity for our future workforce. This has a knock on effect for improving local small businesses.

New Zealand livestock farmers will need to play a pivotal role in helping the country achieve these goals as they are responsible for almost all biogenic methane emissions and own almost all the land that is suitable to plant trees on to help offset carbon dioxide emissions. Achieving these goals is going to require significant changes to the way we farm.

In the last 30 years New Zealand agriculture has increased nitrogen use by over 600% from 62,000t to 452,000tonnes and cracks are starting to appear. Anthropogenic inputs from intensive agriculture and poor practices can be harmful to the health of our waterways, precious wetlands rich in biodiversity and known for their many environmental benefits including filtering nutrients and carbon sequestration have been degraded or drained over time.

The trend towards the development and use of bioprotectants to control crop pests and disease is now in a surge mode, as evidenced by growth rates in bioprotectant sales (3x that of chemical protectants), start-up company formations, mergers and acquisitions, and multinational and venture capital investments.

This business concept works to research the potential outcome of starting and operating a successful low-tech, small scale specialty mushroom farm in the North Island of New Zealand. It is a short overview of a new business venture idea that will be further expanded into a business plan once the concept has proved probable.

In this project I considered the question “how might we develop a food system that benefits everyone in community?” We have a highly productive and well-functioning export system bringing benefit to the New Zealand economy, yet domestically we have people struggling to access healthy food.

This project explores the evolving landscape of Northland hill country farming, highlighting the current position of Northland hill country sheep and beef farming, the significant uptake of forestry competing with the sheep and beef industry for land-use on these hills, and the opportunity for integration of these industries to collaborate in meeting both our environmental, economic, and socio-economic objectives. The implication for landowners, is that the decisions we make today, will not only initiate short-term change, but may also present long-term and inter-generational implications that necessitate a need for holistic and well-informed decision-making process’.

This paper presents some significant empirical findings about generational cohorts, their grocery shopping behaviors and the implications of this for retailers. Marketing has long relied on the use of market segmentation. While birth age has been a useful way to create groups, it does not help to understand cohort motivations. Environmental events experienced during one’s coming of age create values that remain relatively unchanged throughout the life of the citizen. This study investigates what the future of grocery is for Generation Z (Gen Z) and Generation Y (Gen Y / Millennials). We will also explore what impact Branding and Big Data have on the way Gen Y and Gen Z citizens consume.

Pressures on what is deemed the appropriate use of land to create food and fibre in New Zealand are countless and seemingly coming from multiple directions. Such pressures can have the ability to inspire change, be it willing or not. Reactive land use diversification is not new. Land holders have changed their agricultural systems to increase financial gains or access stronger markets as the result of many external influences. Often, the notion of land use change has been referenced as a complete transition of the entire land holding. However partial diversification is already prevalent amongst New Zealand agricultural enterprises, and many rely upon multiple income sources for financial viability.

Our rural community is isolated and mental health can be an issue for our industry. Are we ensuring that we are supporting the mental health of the people that are there to support our farmers? That is what this report aims to find out, to understand the current mental health state of the RP workforce, the specific factors driving poor mental health and the access and use of MH services for our RP’s. This report undertook a survey of 184 Rural professionals across the RP landscape, asking a range of questions to gain a quantitative analysis into their mental health and that of their workplace.

The issue of worker engagement is not a new one and as New Zealand strives to create more value from agriculture without increasing land footprint or environmental harm, value will be created from advancements in taking our world class raw ingredients through the supply chain. Therefore, the engagement of people throughout the supply chain is more important than ever. Worker engagement in this context is defined as the ability for an employer to connect with an employee so that a relationship is not purely a transactional time versus financial reward.

This report outlines and identifies two things: -How can Waikato Maniapoto Māori landowners increase their economic productivity from their whenua (land) and; -How can this be achieved whilst upholding the values of Kaitiakitanga (guardianship) and Manaaki Whenua (goodwill to the land).

A Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) outbreak would have devastating impacts on the agricultural industry, the New Zealand economy, and have severe implications for farming communities. Communication is a vital part of an emergency response, and its effectiveness has a major impact on the overall success of controlling an outbreak. The question is, are we prepared for FMD in New Zealand, from a communications perspective? This is a disease that is well known, and we know as a nation we would act to stamp it out. With this knowledge, we can, and we should, be prepared. This report combines a literature review with semi-structured interviews. Research articles, journals and presentations were analysed. As part of the research, several primary industry representatives from both emergency response and communications backgrounds were interviewed.