Nuffield Scholarship Reports

I found that Global Influences are resetting the rules. The economies of large newly developing countries (e.g. Brazil) are becoming very important influences on world agriculture. Global warming and biofuel are causing huge spin off effects in commodity prices These factors influenced the final shape of my topic which became: ‘Meat supply chains and how … Read more

For as long as I can remember, the catch cry of New Zealand agricultural producers has been to “add value”.  Governments and business circles have pointed the stick at the agricultural sector demanding we step up and add value to our commodity products by further processing and marketing before we on-sell that produce. Dairy companies … Read more

Conservation is a subjective thing, it is different for different cultures. In the United States, in England and Italy the lived in working rural landscape is highly valued by rural and city people alike, and is protected by a variety of methods. Government involvement does not necessarily lead to better outcomes in the provision of … Read more

New Zealand primary producers have been facing a gradual decline in real commodity prices for decades, costs of production are increasing and more recently land values have in many places exceeded the level where an acceptable return on capital is possible. I hypothesised that our commodity producers could overcome these problems, on an industry wide … Read more

This report investigates aspects of corporate governance as it should apply to New Zealand agricultural co-operatives. It looks at best practice corporate governance in public listed companies and identifies areas which pose challenges to agricultural co-operatives. The author attended the 55th Advanced Course in Agricultural Business Management at the Imperial College Wye campus in Kent … Read more

The quality of our NZ economy depends on our ability to acquire, protect, translate, combine and apply knowledge.  This knowledge is required to solve today’s problems and to prepare the ground for solving tomorrow’s.  Without new knowledge, and new combinations of knowledge, there will be no innovation.  And without innovation, NZ will struggle to keep … Read more

The wide degree of anticipation for the completion of this report by many people suggests to me that the problems of getting the job done whilst maintaining harmonious employment relationships are greater than first envisaged. The human (social) component of triple bottom line reporting has only recently become acknowledged as part of sustainable business management. … Read more

Many large co-operatives are grappling with the issue of how to fund their growth strategies without compromising the returns that they pay their farmer shareholders or put the co-operative at risk. Fonterra also has to deal with the issue of how it funds its growth aspirations.  The capital structure that was negotiated at its formation … Read more

The purpose of this report is to comment on the debate and issues surrounding the Genetic Engineering (GE) debate in relationship to whether New Zealand should allow the use of GE technology or not. In determining whether New Zealand should allow the use of GE, this report looked at some of the issues impacting on … Read more

Having completed a degree in agriculture I am aware of the importance of soil health and had started modifying the way we approached crop establishment, mainly with direct drilling autumn forage crops, and then moving into the cash crops. We had also invested in irrigation. I had become involved in setting up a sustainable cropping … Read more

Agriculture is no stranger to technology but new technologies rarely receive an enthusiastic welcome, particularly when they relate to emotive issues such as animals and food.  Throughout history, people have used and adapted to both the positive and negative aspects of new technologies. Initially there were over one hundred reasons given by opponents as to … Read more

The dairy market environment is changing rapidly as the millennium trend of “globalisation” intensifies competition and rationalisation of both buyers and sellers.  Acquiring critical mass in terms of milk and capital is necessary for dairy companies to successfully compete in the globalising market. Dairy co-operatives worldwide are grappling with finding solutions to achieve critical mass. … Read more

1. Deregulation of the UK Dairy Industry 1.1 The Milk Marketing Board in the UK was deregulated in 1994 and the previously integrated dairy industry was fragmented into separate organisations responsible for milk collection and dairy processing. 1.2 This opened the door for true competition for dairy farmers who could now choose to supply milk … Read more

The Consumer The Supermarket The Grower Conclusion IFP is the best response for New Zealand export fruit growers to both consumer trends and environmental concerns.  We are very good at producing fruit with low residue, but as the industry moves down the IFP track, there needs to be a greater focus on justification for every … Read more

In order to form an opinion regarding the relative merits of branded and generic promotion it was necessary to gain an overview of the marketplace. The following section largely focuses on the major markets within the European Union. Murray Taggart

European agriculture is dominated by small holdings. Like New Zealand declining product prices in real terms are forcing farms to amalgamate and large units are producing an increasing percentage of the output. Subsidies still play a major part in European agriculture but reductions will occur as subsidies are not sustainable in the long term at … Read more

The social effects of the GATT Agreement on the Common Agricultural Policy: As has already been foreshadowed in Britain, there will be a shift to effective and holistic policies for the rural economy and for the maintenance of rural communities. Despite the best intentions for a managed change, it may take a crisis, before any … Read more

Philip Luscombe

Bernard Pinney

Report on six months study of farming in the United Kingdom, with particular preference to the management of intensive mixed farms, and the mechanized handling and containerization of agricultural produce.

Gordon Pullar