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2018 Reports

Pablo Gallegos

“If anybody anywhere in the world can use small amounts of energy, water and nutrients to create the same quality food as we can here then why would anyone buy from New Zealand?” That’s the question that Lance Wiggs director of several New Zealand high-growth companies (www.lancewiggs.com) asked to his readers back in February 2016. … Read more

Craig Trotter

Change is constant and the change of pace for the global supply of protein and its make up is going to alter considerable over the next 20 years. Alternative protein sources such as through the rise of plant based and synthetic meat products will take place of the current traditional commodity meat market across the … Read more

Justin Geary

An industry founded by entrepreneurs and innovators, the deer industry is relatively young. Farming the most recently domesticated animals, deer farmers have experienced all of the highs and lows that markets can deliver. With boom and bust cycles a regular occurrence, industry leaders developed a strategy to create an appellation for premium New Zealand Venison … Read more

Allister Holmes

It is naïve and self-centered to even consider our selves the owners of land. Land has existed for millennia before we “own” it, and will continue to exist for millennia after we no longer “own” it. We are simply occupiers, users and stewards of it for a fleeting time. Current land stewards should undertake succession … Read more

Annabel Craw

Family farming businesses contribute to a large proportion of the total number of agricultural businesses in New Zealand. But given the level of their significance very little focus is put on how family businesses function to remain harmonious, strengthen and grow. The small amount talked about is largely focused on governance and succession planning and … Read more

Neriah Broughton

Adoption of digital technology on farm has been largely for business as usual activities that are a “nice to have” aspect rather than a “must have”. In the future agribusinesses will use digital technology to lower operating costs, increase productivity and expand to new markets or develop new product offerings. The aim of this study … Read more

Jared Briggs

Synthetic meat, cultured meat, artificial protein. Many of us have heard the terms but what do they mean? More importantly do our food producers know what they mean and what impact they may have on them? New Zealand’s place in the world’s meat supply has always been at the premium end. We are not high-volume … Read more

James Sinclair

Plantation forestry in New Zealand is entering a period of growth due to the availability of wood supply. Nowhere is this more prevalent than the Gisborne region. In order for forest owners to capitalise on their investment, this growth in industry capacity needs to be met with the supply of labour. To this end, the … Read more

Andy Elliot

Listen to the podcast Download the report https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjsXqQykm-s&list=PL_FGrpOWrfXvXSGWBr9pj48LJHnXeZeJ5&index=4 The challenge that Aotearoa-New Zealand faces is finding balance between retaining and restoring our environment, whilst achieving social and economic benefit. This is not just our challenge; it is a response to a global call for better outcomes for our planet and us. This report is targeted … Read more

Turi McFarlane

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3OYmYDhyLc&list=PL_FGrpOWrfXvXSGWBr9pj48LJHnXeZeJ5&index=1 Listen to the podcast Download the report New Zealand farmers are being confronted by the need to improve multiple environmental outcomes while still returning a profit. How the primary sector continues to evolve to deliver sustainable returns for farmers responding to increasing environmental pressures, is one of the defining challenges of our time and … Read more

Kate Scott

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4Or4QsL-wg&list=PL_FGrpOWrfXvXSGWBr9pj48LJHnXeZeJ5&index=1 Listen to the podcast Download the report The current world of agriculture is uncertain, with challenges of climate change, water quality, animal welfare, the rise of plant-based proteins, and of course feeding an estimated 9.7 billion people by 20501. However as global agriculture stands on the cusp of significant change, New Zealand’s ability to … Read more

Solis Norton

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjzbCEmvtGk&list=PL_FGrpOWrfXvXSGWBr9pj48LJHnXeZeJ5&index=3&t=0s Listen to the podcast Download the report This report explores and applies a novel methodology of standardising and quantifying energy flows within New Zealand’s primary food production chains and more widely within New Zealand itself in relation to the Zero Carbon bill. Then demonstrates the method as a critically important adjunct to economics in … Read more

Simon Cook

Simon Cook

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuWnfZWIpjI&list=PL_FGrpOWrfXvXSGWBr9pj48LJHnXeZeJ5&index=3 Listen to the podcast Download the report For the 8th consecutive year World Class Biosecurity ranked the number 1 priority for industry leaders in KPMG’s annual Agribusiness Agenda for 2018. It is interesting to note that while industry leaders recognise this as such a critical focus, at grass roots level there seems to be … Read more

Caleb Dennis

Thinking outside of the square and challenging the status quo is and will become more and more important as we see challenges to the primary industries. The changing consumer preferences and urbanisation of our communities is and will continue to erode at the traditional way of farming and growing in New Zealand, and the world … Read more

Caroline Fellows

Meeting the requirements of compliance is an area that farmers struggle with. They are great at working the land and with animals and get frustrated at having to slow down to complete what is sometimes seen as needless paper work. Compliance in the agricultural sector is only going to increase and become more complex. Local … Read more

Kristina Dykes

If you talk to any vet out there, I can almost guarantee it wasn’t an offhand decision in their final year of high school that took them to vet school. The dream would have taken place years before. If you ask any vet, there will be a moment in their childhood; an experience or situation, … Read more

Tony Dowman

The dairy industry has for a long time been challenged to recruit sufficient people to fill vacancies and to meet the needs created by natural attrition. Generation Z (Gen Z) are people born after 1995. The relevance being that Gen Z are aged up to approximately 20 years (as at 2017) and are starting to … Read more

Sophie Malone

“The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honours the servant and has forgotten the gift” Kasanoff (2017). Although this might be a paraphrase of Albert Einstein’s work, it is a quote that has spread all across the world and is a … Read more

Paul Edwards

During the last two decades (1995 to 2015) the New Zealand dairy industry has undergone significant growth. Nationally, cow numbers have increased 70% from 2.9 to 5 million, the area in dairy has increased 45% from 1.2 to 1.75 million hectares and milk production has increased 129% from 8.1 billion to 18.6 billion milksolids (DairyNZ … Read more

Brad Stevens

Following the introduction of the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 (HSWA) and a fatality on a kiwifruit orchard in 2016, the New Zealand Kiwifruit industry has begun a journey on improving health and safety practices on orchard. There has recently been a proliferation of software solutions to support on-orchard health and safety. This … Read more

Nigel Sowman

This case study looks at the changes seen over the first eight years post conversion to organic viticulture and covers the first 150 hectares of converted vineyard area on a vineyard in Marlborough, New Zealand. The motivation behind this case study has come wanting to know what changes have happened on the vineyard in question … Read more

Matt Nelson

This report was written with the aim of exploring how other successful businesses within the Primary Industry can gain a higher premium on their products to give a competitive advantage and exclusive brand positioning. I wanted to see if there are any lessons that can be learnt and adopted by Zespri and Growers to gain … Read more

Susan Kilsby

Trading systems, as a tool to reallocate nutrient emissions are currently underutilised in New Zealand. This is primarily due to the under development of the underlying water management policies and regulations required for a trading system to operate effectively. Water quality must be more proactively managed if we are to reach the goal of having … Read more

Olivia Ross

Each of the sectors within the primary industry has an ageing population of employees. These people are going to need replaced by 2025 (as Julian Raine spoke about during the panel discussion, phase one of course 36 the Kellogg Rural Leadership Programme). The red meat sector is New Zealand’s largest manufacturing employer and provides jobs … Read more