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...

Rural Leaders Reports

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

Dolan Matthew, J

The Fresh Produce industry is by nature competitive, and the demand for high quality consistent products requires technologies and methods to describe and manage the high degree of variability which is inherent in Horticultural crops. An opportunity exists to use Supply Chain Information to measure the quality and value of fruit, and a range of … Read more

Orsborn Sam

Over the past twelve months we have seen extreme fluctuations in factors affecting agricultural return such as exchange rates and dairy payout. This volatility is changing the risk status of agriculture in New Zealand. Farmers need to take greater control of the financial management of their businesses. There is a great opportunity to increase profitability … Read more

Wills, Grant

What is our dairy pasture really worth? Or, more importantly, what are we prepared to pay for the land that it grows on? Through this report, seven farm performance parameters have been compared with the value offarm sales in the Matamata-Piako district. The two physical parameters, pasture production, and milksolids production, have been compared with … Read more

Smith Diane

Exercise is important for all women of all ages and it should be an integral part of your life. A number of women were surveyed or received a Fitness Challenge Programme for 2009 on their exercise regime. I wanted to find out what exercise women were involved in and what motivated them to exercise. This … Read more

Mitchell Peter, J

Today’s farmers are under increasing pressure to adopt more efficient agricultural principles, making the best possible use of resources by minimising high energy inputs, such as pesticides, fertilisers, fossil fuels and water, without loss of food quality and yield. The challenges are to maintain and increase productivity and profitability, while reducing any potentially negative environmental … Read more

Evan Heywood

This analysis examines whether Nelson kiwifruit growers would benefit more from deregulation versus Zespri's Single Point of Entry monopoly, using case studies from New Zealand and South African fruit industries.

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.

Tim Hale

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

Craige Mackenzie

Climate Change has become one of the crucial issues of the early 21st Century. Pressures are increasing on agribusinesses to reduce carbon emissions.  This drive for change is coming from an international level, not just nationally. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), established in 1988 by the United Nations, has played a huge part … 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

Kane, Sam

NZ pastoral livestock production is currently faced with a rapidly changing environment. Input and output prices and their relativities are increasingly dynamic. The policy and regulatory environment seems to change quickly and with little warning. The physical climate and natural resource base is changing as a result of internal and external forces. Meanwhile agriculture continues … Read more

Rollinson Bruce

The purpose of this report is to obtain further knowledge and analyse some of the issues commercial vegetable growers in Ohakune faced during the 2007/08 drought. The report explores some of the options for future irrigation opportunities and tools to assist growers make more informed decisions about irrigation. Rollinson Bruce

Walter John, B

Synlait has an established pasture monitoring system across all the Synlait dairy farms. The objective is to provide accurate, consistent and comparable measurements that can be used for management decisions, including pasture allocation, surplus identification and regrassing options. The Synlait pasture monitoring service has provided a vast amount of data on pasture growth rate and … 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

van Beek, G

Dairy farmers take feed and convert that to milk and other farm products which are converted, typically in New Zealand by member co-operatives into marketable products for sale. The net revenue is distributed back to members through various payment models with the aim of providing clear market signals as to the value of their milk. … 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

Brian Russell

The deer industry struggles to shake off the perception of being a young industry with growing pains. Product price volatility contributes to banks, farm advisors and the media being wary of promoting this relatively small industry. The entrepreneurs who initially developed the industry are now retiring, exposing a lack of new and younger deer farmers. Encouragement of a new generation of low risk taking and successful farmers is needed to stabilize and grow the industries perception, as being an attractive and viable farming alternative.

Neil Campbell

The EU is New Zealand's most valuable sheep meat market, taking 52% by volume but returning 63% by value. Access is restricted and rationed through quota by the Meat Board.

James Gibson

‘ Getting on board’ is journey within a journey, a detour if you like, that may bring you back onto the route you have chosen, -by getting you elected, lead you away down a different track, -interest in one role leading to another, or lead to a dead end, – not getting elected. This reference … Read more

Vaughan Templeton

There is little doubt that the environmental cost of food production is becoming a much greater concern to the general public. Since the change in land use of our own property here in coastal Southland from sheep and beef farming to dairying in 2002 there has been a highly effective campaign to highlight the negative … Read more

Jane Mitchell

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

Les Keeper

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