2026 Nuffield NZ Farming Scholarship. Apply by 17 August 2025. Read More...

Apply for 2026 Nuffield NZ Farming Scholarship by 17 August 2025. More details...

Agribusiness

Bowker, Lucy

On-farm Certification programmes and the successful uptake of them by producers relies on some key elements especially if the programmes are to help mitigate the ‘licence to operate’ debate that is currently hampering intensive agricultural practice. Certification programmes operate in many different contexts – the size, depth and distribution of them through the supply chain … Read more

Ian Knowles

New Zealand Agriculture Education and Training (AE&T) has helped build a country that has been extremely successful – largely based on export of its primary industries, innovation and services to agriculture. Over time a multitude of providers and a plethora of qualifications have developed to meet the demand. There have always been challenges for education … Read more

Percy, Edward O.

This resource focuses on ‘Soil Carbon Sequestration’. Is it possible to sequester carbon in soils? How? What are the upsides to doing so? Could the carbon sequestered in soils enter the Emissions Trading Scheme and be traded? Like soils are the foundation to our very being, this resource is the foundation to the knowledge required … Read more

Muir, Bron

The common cry from many of today’s land managers is that the young New Zealanders who are seeking employment on New Zealand rural properties are ill-prepared for the rigors and day to day workload that is being asked of them. And it is not all physical work ethic and commonsense that they apparently lack. Lack … Read more

Jefferis, David

This paper discusses the principles, outcomes and benefits of biological farming in New Zealand. New Zealand agriculture is at present extremely reliant on petrochemical based fertiliser and chemicals to produce commodities. Biological agriculture is about increasing efficiency, productivity and profitability by working with a natural system rather than against it. Agricultural produce in New Zealand … Read more

Gregg Pardoe

I initially chose my topic as I believed that Maori farming is going through a renaissance and that we as a people are realising the potential of our immense land assets. Looking at New Zealand on a global scale I asked myself the question; how are other Indigenous peoples with bigger land area’s farming their … Read more

Gower Fiona

Rural Women New Zealand has been in operation for over 80 years. Through the years and the name changes its main aim to support rural women, families and communities has stayed basically the same. As a relatively new member of RWNZ, there is a lot about the organisation that I do not know about or … Read more

Cookson, Timothy R.

Irrigation and water storage has long been touted as a potential for improvements in productivity in dryland East Coast areas. Reports date back to the 1880’s discussing the benefits water would bring to farmlands. Currently there is 750,000ha of land irrigated in New Zealand with approximately 400,000ha in Canterbury. The total irrigated area in New … Read more

Wilson Michelle, A

Accident Compensation Corporation Statistics (ACC Statistics 2009) show that there are on average 30 sudden deaths on farms each year. These figures are only for accidents on farm. They do not include sudden deaths related to medical conditions.(See Appendix A) These statistics highlight the reason why we should all be prepared for the sudden death … Read more

Herstall Ulrich

The purpose of this project is to explore what New Zealand Farmers think about GM and whether they would consider using, or accept others using, GM plants or animals if they were approved for release into the New Zealand environment. Releasing a GM organism is an application process which no one working with GM has contemplated undertaking at this time.

Steven Sterne

Food shortages and security concerns after the Second World War drove many countries to encourage agricultural production through various forms of subsidisation and protectionist measures.  These subsidies survived long after their intended usefulness ended, causing a huge over-supply of agricultural commodity products throughout much of the developed Western world.  As the mountains of product grew … Read more

Ali Undorf-Lay

As you drive around the New Zealand countryside it is not uncommon to hear farmers talk about a widening gap between rural and urban people. They say, that the lack of non-farmer understanding of ‘all things rural’ has let to unrealistic consumer expectations and too much regulation. Farmers are feeling disillusioned by the lack of … Read more

Taylor, Sandra

A growing division between urban and farming communities is having far reaching implications in this country. While 47% or $17.2 billion of this country’s export earnings comes from food production, only 7.7% of New Zealanders lives in what Statistics NZ describes as either rural areas with low urban influence or highly rural/remote areas. This country … Read more

Welsh Kylie, A

The most telling measure of effectiveness as a tutor is the quality of a students learning. In recent years on average only 37% of Agriculture ITO trainees are actually completing their qualifications. There seems to be some potential barriers around a lack of emphasis being put on tutors capability or technique to deliver information. There … Read more

Goodman, Steve

The rural service industry comprises of five distinct areas of service that are specifically focused on the primary sector. These areas include suppliers, professionals, brokers, contractors and some farm businesses. The level of competition ranges within and between these areas is generally determined by the demand for the service. As such, there tends to be … Read more

Higgins, Hayden R.

Labour, or the shortage thereof in NZ is an issue across all industries, and agriculture is no less affected than any other. The growth in land values in the past 5 years see’s the affordability of purchase and economic operation of farms, as a challenge for those looking to increase their business size, or enter … Read more

Ben Todhunter

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

Gibson Wendy, E

The main objective of the project for me was to use the project to implement learning styles on diary farms to create more open communication and build up positive working relationships. Developing strategies that we could practically implement on farm for the employer and employee in achieving this objective, I could develop my own leadership … Read more

Wills Bruce

The objective of this report is to understand why farmland values have almost quadrupled since 1990 and perhaps more importantly analyse and try to predict where prices paid for farmland are likely to go from here. The consensus of numerous discussions with Economists, Real Estate agents, Bankers, Valuers and the people making the final decisions, … Read more

Knowles Katrina

In years gone by farming was looked at as a life style option for people who wanted to work outside. It was not considered to be a desirable career option for most but was for those who had no other options. It involved hard work and long hours. Today farming is looked at as a … Read more

Billing, Daniel

With equity partnerships becoming a more common form of ownership for people without the initial capital needed for sole ownership, the reliance on other people becomes an increasingly important issue. If the people that you become involved with aren’t compatible with yourself then problems will arise and the partnership may dissolve or become inefficient If … Read more

Illston, Mark

Farmer actions to reduce the effects of Bureaucracy and Bureaucrats on our lives. Farmers, business ‘persons’ and citizens appear to be confronted with more and more rules and regulations that are affecting the way in which we live our daily lives and operate our business activities. The word “appear” is difficult to quantify unless one … Read more

Gaffaney Julian

This research report is about probiotics, a natural means of promoting health, disease resistance and productivity in both plants and animals. The report draws on many information sources, from books, journals, trial information brochures and an interview with Dr Tim Jenkins, a prominent New Zealand microbiologist and formulator of some unique probiotic products. The report … Read more

John Wright

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