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...

pasture

Natasha Cave

This report by Natasha Cave examines virtual fencing for beef cattle, its potential to lift pasture management and environmental protection, while emphasising that success requires farmer training, industry support and research.

David March

Wearable technologies offer real benefits in monitoring, labour efficiency, and safety on NZ dairy farms. David March’s report discovers that for high-performing operations, financial returns remain limited, highlighting the need to weigh costs, farm performance, and alternative investments before adoption.

Jen Corkran

Key insights, including feedback from farmers, around learning preferences and decision-making on pasture and homegrown feed.
Fraser Dymond Kellogg 2022

Fraser Dymond

This report investigates the important metrics of maize forage quality and how they can be positively influenced. It also looks at how we could trade maize forage on quality parameters for the benefit of growers and purchasers.

Greg Shepherd

The first settlers were recognised for establishing farms and runs by breaking in land, building boundary fences, establishing key farm infrastructure, processing facilities and forging development of new distribution channels. Pastoral farming[1] rapidly became the mainstay of the New Zealand economy, creating the fabric of rural communities, provincial towns and provided the opportunity for urban … Read more

Lynda Gaukrodger

The meat and fibre industry is the second largest export earner for New Zealand and is a significant contributor to the local Gisborne/Wairoa economy. With the recent growth in the dairy industry and therefore requirement of dairy support land, sheep and beef farmers are being pushed back into the less productive country so intensification of … Read more

Michaela Soper

This study stems from the common farmer complaint, that there are too many perennial ryegrass options on the market, this number conservatively estimated at over 50, with a few and limited tools available to farmers to aid them with variety choice for their pasture renewal programme. A survey is conducted of 16 Dairy Women’s Network … Read more

Steve Wilkins

The purpose of this study is to identify areas where the Arable and Dairy industries can continue to be industry leading and keeping the ‘sustainability stool’ upright. All of this, while fitting within the environmental framework we are likely to be faced with in the future.

Salvesen, Michael I. C.

Pastoral Farmers in New Zealand are renowned for their expertise and ability to grow grass and to convert that to meat and milk more efficiently than anyone else. This may well be the case although how near that is to the economic optimum is what this project aims to find out. The perception is that … Read more

Alex Jack

By introducing myself from the outset, I hope to help you understand where I’m coming from … my perspective, my personal bias, my motivation, my interests, i.e. an insight into why I may see the world differently from you. I am the current owner operator of our intergenerational family beef farm, which I hope will … Read more

McGill Paul, B

Productivity increases by farms over the past twenty years have been large. Farmers are always looking for ways to increase output, especially in the last ten years in a period of high market returns for farm products. Productivity increases have been partly achieved through intensification. Intensification of farming systems over the last ten years has … Read more

Guy Nathan

The Horowhenua District has a vast array of soil types, excellent road and rail access, the climate is mild and pastoral farming is declining and giving way to lifestyle blocks. Other land use activities that have increased over the last decade (1989 – 1999) are dairy farming, horticulture and forestry ventures. The Horowhenua District Council … Read more