Massey Documents by Type
Permanent URI for this communityhttps://mro.massey.ac.nz/handle/10179/294
Browse
6 results
Search Results
Item Resilience attributes of New Zealand dairy farmers : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters in AgriCommerce at Massey University, Manawatu, New Zealand(Massey University, 2015) Duranovich, Federico NicolasNew Zealand dairy farmers are now in an era characterised by uncertainty in the farm business environment. Thus, managing risk is a major challenge for farmers if they want to keep ahead in the business. This means that farmers must develop resilience. Resilience involves having the ability to mitigate threats and adapt to the opportunities offered by change when this is required. However, little is known about what is required to become resilient, or whether someone with a highly resilient personality has different perceptions of risks and risk management behaviours compared to others. To determine what the attributes of a resilient dairy farmer were likely to be, what the most relevant sources of risk in the farm business environment were, and what the most relevant strategies for managing risk were, an extensive literature review was undertaken. This review was also used to develop a survey which was conducted with a random sample of 1559 dairy farmers. Principal component analysis and cluster analysis were used to determine the most relevant resilience and risk profile attributes from the survey data and to differentiate farmer types based on these attributes. Furthermore, differences between resilient farmer types with respect their perceptions of change, volatility and opportunities in the risk sources in the farm business environment, risk management behaviour, and other individual and farm business characteristics were tested by a range of statistical tests. Results concluded that five resilience attributes (general self-efficacy, willingness to change, locus of control, social sense-making, and strategic thinking) were useful in distinguishing two resilient farmer types: high and low resilient farmers. Few differences were found between resilient farmer types regarding their perceptions of risk in the different sources of risk in the farm business environment, although high resilient farmers did see more opportunities than threats in the farm business environment. However, they were also more risk averse which may indicate that they carefully plan and implement the strategies they choose for managing risks. Indeed, high resilient farmers made more use of, and gave more importance to, strategies that were associated with visualising and positioning their business in the future, and with strategies associated with the prevention, mitigation, flexibility and diversity to risks compared to low resilient farmers, which was consistent with resilience theory. The resilience profile and management strategies used by resilient farmers identified in this research can be used by those in the industry to support farmers in building resilience and encourage the use of management strategies associated with resilience.Item An application of soft systems methodology in the on-farm labour situation in the New Zealand Dairy Industry : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Agricultural Science in Farm Management at Massey University(Massey University, 1997) Reid, Janet IThe Farmer First Research (FFR) programme at Massey University has the primary aim of researching and adapting the application of soft systems approaches to ill-defined and complex problem situations in the New Zealand dairy industry. The labour situation on many New Zealand dairy farms was identified as problematic for a large number of people in the dairy industry. A number of poorly understood, interrelated problems comprise the situation that is viewed differently by people in the situation. A soft systems approach was applied to the on-farm labour situation to obtain an understanding of the situation that would assist people to define action to improve the situation. From a review of six soft systems approaches, Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) was selected for application in the on-farm labour situation. A partial iteration of the most recent articulation of SSM (Checkland and Scholes 1990) was undertaken. A rich description of the problem situation was developed from problem-owner interviews and secondary data sources. The information obtained was analysed to identify the elements of structure, process and climate in the situation. Also, an analysis of the intervention and analyses of the social and political aspects of the situation was made. Livestock Improvement Advisory, the farm management group within Livestock Improvement Corporation in the New Zealand dairy industry, are strongly involved in servicing the needs of dairy farmers. This group have the resources and ability to improving components of the on-farm labour situation and were allocated the role of primary-decision taker for the SSM inquiry . On the basis of their role and influence in the problem situation five relevant human activity systems were selected from the rich description. The five relevant systems were modelled to assist Livestock Improvement Advisory to debate and define action to improve the on-farm labour situation.Item Risk in New Zealand dairy farming : perception and management : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Applied Science in Agricultural Systems and Management at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand(Massey University, 2005) Pinochet Chateau, Rene EduardoMany changes have taken place in New Zealand during the last 20 years. These changes have affected the dairy sector in its broadest sense, at both industry and farm level. After economic deregulation (1984), a survey was conducted in 1992 amongst a sample of pastoral New Zealand farmers to assess the perception of risk and the strategies most commonly used by them to manage risk. Dairy farmers were part of the total sample analysed. Since the 1980s agriculture, not only in New Zealand but world wide, has changed at a rapid rate with farmers facing a challenging environment. The identification of both sources of variation and management strategies for them has made risk management a high priority issue. Therefore there is a need to understand the critical aspects of the environment faced by New Zealand dairy farmers, to update our knowledge of how they are recognizing and managing risk. The main objective of this research was to assess farmers' risk perception and identify the main variables affecting risk in New Zealand dairy systems. To accomplish the objectives, the 1992 survey was replicated with another sample of dairy farmers. Additionally a logistic regression was used to analyse the ProfitWatch Database (Dexcel). The four most important sources of risk perceived by farmers in 2004 were from the market side of their operations (2), Human (1) and Financial (1 ). To control risk, farmers were mainly focused in the use of Production and Financial strategies. The risks perceived and the use of risk management strategies have changed significantly during the last twelve years. Now farmers perceive more risk in almost all the sources identified in the surveys and they also make more intensive use of almost all the strategies to cope with those sources of risk. Significant differences were also found in the perception of some of the risk sources of the different groups of farmers analysed (Sharemilkers vs. Owner-operators and; North Island vs. South Island dairy farmers). Finally the database analysis showed that of the seven variables included in the logistic regression to assess risk, measured as Return on Equity (ROE), only four of them were found to be significant for the model. In order of importance, these were: the Debt Servicing Capacity (DSC), the Debt to Asset Ratio (DTAR), the Asset Turnover Ratio (ATR) and the Operating Profit Margin (OPM). The findings of this research have confirmed that currently farmers are mainly concerned about the changes of prices, changes in world situation, accidents or health problems and changes in interest rates; however to control risk they are both production- and financial-orientated. With this clear profile, it can be stated that indeed risk perception and the way farmers manage risk has changed during the last twelve years. Additionally, farmers perceive sources of risks and manage them differently, according to their specific situation (e.g. Ownership structure, Geographic location). The analysis of the database showed that increases in farm size were not associated with a decrease in risk (ROE). Also, the use of Farm Working Expense Ratio and Economic Farm Surplus as the main variables to evaluate cost control and profitability of dairy farms overlook more useful ratios of ATR and OPM. Finally, high levels of debt can lead to reduction in the risk faced by a dairy business if non-equity capital (money borrowed) is efficiently used and high levels of efficiencies, both capital and operational, are achieved.Item Item Nutrient management plans and their influence on the farm management practices of dairy farmers : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Environmental Management, Massey University, Palmerston North(Massey University, 2013) Neal, GavinNutrient Management Plans (NMPs) are a relatively recent innovation in the New Zealand dairy industry, however due to their growing use in regional council policy, and initiatives such as the Dairying and Clean Streams Accord (2003), it is likely that NMPs will become mandatory for the diary industry in the near future. There is currently limited information on the use and benefits of NMPs in the New Zealand context, and how dairy farm management practices have been influenced by the introduction of NMPs. The main objective of this research was to investigate how the introduction of an NMP has influenced the farm management practices of dairy farmers. This was achieved through the use of two case studies within the Waikato and Otago regions. These regions have contrasting approaches to nutrient management; The Waikato Regional Council has incorporated the use of NMPs in regional policy and has supported a number of community initiatives regarding nutrient management. In comparison, at the time of the research, the Otago Regional Council, while stating that they promoted the adoption of nutrient management practices, had no current policy requiring NMPs. Results indicated that the degree of NMP uptake varied amongst farmers, depending on a variety of influences with regards to the farmer’s own unique goals, circumstances and opinions. It was also found that while the reasons for NMP introduction varied amongst the farmers interviewed, the overall influences of NMPs on farm management practices were similar across both cases. The key influences of NMPs on farm management practices were; the increased precision and efficiency of fertiliser application, an increased appreciation and use of effluent as a nutrient source, and the identification and manipulation of other factors such as the effects of bought in feed and stock movement on nutrient flows on the farm. There was a perceived lack of ongoing support and education for farmers regarding NMPs. This contributed to a general distrust amongst farmers of NMPs, in turn affecting their opinions, and uptake of NMPs. Furthermore NMPs were not being used to their full potential by the majority of farmers who participated in this research. The greater the involvement and support offered by the regional council and industry, the greater the trust and cooperation amongst the particular farmers with the relevant regional council and industry representatives. Overall, while this research has found that NMPs do provide benefits to farmer’s management practices, further support and ongoing education is required to ensure NMPs are accepted and used to their full potential by dairy farmers.Item Measuring performance in farming a comparative analysis of dairy production systems in New Zealand and Chile : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of AgriScience at Massey University, Turitea, Palmerston North, New Zealand(Massey University, 2013) Beux Garcia, Licy MarenThe purpose of this work was to identify, examine, and compare the key performance indicators and drivers of success of pasture-based dairy systems in New Zealand and Chile. Key similarities and differences between dairy farming systems in these countries were identified by analysing data provided by DairyBase and, its Chilean counterpart, TodoagroBase. Comparable observations were nested using country-specific classification systems based on existing knowledge, followed by the estimation of efficiency scores for each individual observation within these classes using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). Efficiency scores were then attached to the original datasets and used as the response variable in several country-specific Regression Partitioning Trees. This procedure identified the most relevant benchmarks in each country and showed that there are various pathways to high efficiency. Knowledge gains provided by this research are expected to influence farming practices and management, research and extension, and to encourage future cooperation between the two countries. Dairy farmers in New Zealand and Chile benefit from low-cost production advantages because of their favourable environment for pasture-based dairying, efficiently and profitably producing milk at a lower cost than the world’s average. However, a large variability in farming systems within the countries was identified, as were different benchmarks. In New Zealand, herd productivity and labour played key roles in defining efficiency, while in Chile, herd productivity and supplements fed per litre of milk produced were key indicators explaining efficiency. In New Zealand, operating cost per kg of milk solids, return on Assets (ROA), operating profit margin (OPM), operating profit per hectare, and asset turnover (ATR) were also major indicators. In Chile, gross farm revenue per cow, cost of production per litre of milk produced, wages per litre, operating profit per cow and ATR were also highlighted. The absence of indicators such as ROA in Chile was noticeable. Reasons for different key performance indicators occurring in each country stem from history to geography, and have resulted in differences in values and goals. New Zealand farmers are profitability and cost-focused, looking alternatively to both OPM and the capital invested. Chilean farmers are revenue-focused and respond strongly to milk:feed price ratio and to the efficiency in the use of supplement. In both countries, the systems are evolving in similar ways, gradually increasing intensification levels and specialisation. In both countries, consistently high performing farms are efficient at producing both milk and revenue, and are more likely to have higher herd productivity and labour efficiency than poorer performers. In New Zealand, consistently efficient farms also had significantly better asset use as reflected by their ROA and ATR. In Chile better performers used significantly less supplement per litre of milk produced.