Report Year: 2001

The development of any new variety of plant, especially a fruiting one where the fruit has commercial potential, is often a long and costly exercise, and one not undertaken lightly. The opportunity to gain some form of protection to allow a plant breeder to recoup his costs and make a profit from his breeding investment would provide the necessary incentive to undertake such work. In fact it could be argued that it is fundamentally right and necessary that breeders are given this protection. The benefits that accrue not only to the breeder, but also to the wider community and the country of origin through successful commercialisation of a new variety, are such that they should be protected. This is even more relevant if the plant produces a unique fruit. Some form of protection for newly bred cultivars would provide the incentive and therefore encourage investment and effort into plant breeding in New Zealand. The fact that this need is already recognised and a Plant Variety Rights Act exists in New Zealand would therefore come as no surprise to most. But how aware are we of – • The effectiveness of that Act? • The pre-requisites it places on plant breeders? • The process and time frames which must be followed? • What existing fruits marketed in New Zealand are protected? Logic then says that we must be asking whether New Zealand breeders are being given the same degree of protectron as breeders from other countries. It would seem pertinent to draw comparisons with both Australia and America. We must then look at the issue of international protection. The opportunity -for commercial profit through the successful development of any new product is considerably enhanced if the protection given to it by New Zealand Law is carried over into the International marketplace.

This assignment is written from the perspective of a sheep breeder and traces the history and the present day activities of the NZ Sheep Industry through a practical point of view. Maximising the profitability of the NZ Sheep Industry starts down on the farm and flows through the efficient processing and marketing channels to supply the customer with a healthy and attractive product. There seems to be a reasonable gap between the theory and the logistical practibility of certain ideas. But the boundaries do have to pushed to make progress (but not at the expense of animal welfare) and it is the challenge of the modern day operator to take the latest technological information and market signals and apply them to the business of farming.

The protection of New Zealand’s indigenous biodiversity of New Zealand is a significant national issue. Central Hawke’s Bay (CHB) has not escaped comments about the continuing loss and degradation of native bush, and apparently slow rate of protection. At the same time there is an increasing awareness within farming circles of the value of these remaining bush areas and an enthusiasm for voluntary protection work. Continual pressure from livestock and pests threatens the remaining bush. Rules have been proposed to maintain this status quo, in many cases as a backstop to prevent an unknown number of landowners from hastening this decline by more deliberate means. The administration and enforcement of rules involves consents, bureaucracy and money. To date, the CHB District Council has placed its faith in voluntary protection, rather than rules which don’t offer any protection against gradual degradation. Can this fear for the future be allayed by focusing on what is being gained? Regeneration can and does repair past damage and losses. To answer the question of whether rules are needed in CHB, I have: • Estimated the native bush areas remaining, • Quantified what native bush areas have been voluntarily protected using legal covenants, • Looked for any trends in the rate of protection, and • Costed protection work and on-going commitments.

For sports clubs in the Matamata-Piako District to survive it is important that they consider if the methods of the past are in fact the ways of the future. Clubs often have to bear the burden of spiralling maintenance costs for often under-utilised facilities and societal changes such as more punitive drink-driving laws have reduced traditional revenue gatherers such as the club bar. It is important that they consider their futures before clubs limit their options for continued existence; – Should they merge with another club or clubs? – Can they pool resources with other clubs, schools or active leisure providers to form multi-sports clubs or leisure centres? – Can clubs continue to rely on volunteers for their continued existence?A survey taken in the Matamata-Piako District showed that although many sports clubs were having difficulty recruiting volunteers to run their organizations, few were prepared to consider amalgamation with another club/clubs in the District.The traditional methods of funding individual sports clubs are under scrutiny and there is a preference for funding through one effective sports organization. It is recommended that clubs need to evaluate themselves, using an organization such as Sport Waikato, and determine their future viability.

Severe drought in the recent summer of 2000/01 highlighted the significant impact that water plays in the productive land based industries of the Tasman district. Rationing of irrigation water reached an unprecedented level. This, coupled with the Tasman District Councils proposed resource management plan for water, questioned the efficient and equitable allocation of water for irrigation. The aims of this report are to gain an understanding of the resource and associated issues, to determine future land uses changes, and to identify barriers to change.

The problem of Stray Voltage in Farm Dairies is not new. In the past extensive research was done on voltage and animal behaviour. This resulted in the formulation of construction guidelines for farm dairies. The dairy industry now hosts a new generation of dairy farmers that may not have the same level of knowledge and understanding of stray voltage. In addition the industry is currently in a phase of rapid expansion where qualified builders are in short supply in some areas. This project demonstrates how severe the problem can be, and aims to raise the awareness of stray voltage and how this impacts New Zealand Dairy Farmers today. My main objective is to provide the Dairy Farmer with a resource should he/she be faced with stray voltage in their farm dairy.

At the time of writing this introduction, the New Zealand Government and media are talking about the knowledge wave economy – if we were able to reduce any limitations that school Boards of Trustees (BOT’s) experience and encourage them to use their creativity, positively affecting every child in our education system, and the whole of society as they enter the workforce, there would be a far greater impact on the whole of society. Within the time I spent on the BOT (5 years), I or other BOT people I met, had experienced some frustrating times. This survey endeavours to find out if these issues are fact or myth and what may be hindering BOT’s to perform at their best.

The Kiwifruit industry faces some significant challenges in the near future. This report sets out to look laterally at a variety of market trends and current growth areas. It reviews these areas and trends with the objective of identifying commercial opportunity. It suggests paths to follow in order to realise these opportunities. Finally and most importantly it prioritises these opportunities relative to the current research and development focus.

When trying to think of a subject for my project during the Kellogg Leadership Program, I became aware of the lack of knowledge of Federated Farmers by some of the attendees on the program with me. Although there was wide awareness of the organisation’s existence and some of the work undertaken by Federated Farmers by all on the course, there was a lack of understanding of the structure and of the networking of Federated Farmers. So I decided to do my project on the structure and history of Federated Farmers.

The purpose of this study was to determine what farmers perceive as limiting factors to improving sheep production on their properties based in the Upper North Island (Taupo – Kaitaia). The researcher had recently changed jobs to become a Sheep Production Officer for WoolPro based in this area, which involves liaising with the Northern North Island Sheep Council. As a result, the objectives of the project was to gain information on what were the perceived limiting factors for sheep production within the area, and to identify opportunities so that farmers could overcome these. Also, to gain an understanding of the farmers within the area providing some base knowledge for the officer.