Previous papers at this conference over the years have dealt with trends in productivity in the total agricultural sector, the forestry sector and the dairy sector. Productivity indexes were developed by the Tornquist methodology that produces index numbers free of base year bias. Sources of...

This paper is based on an econometric model of the New Zealand meat export trade for the period 1990-2003. The model is known as a gravity model because it describes trade flows as being balanced between the respective pull of domestic and importing country size and incomes. The meat trade is...

There is a need for better understanding and estimating forests non-market values. This study aimed to investigate the environmental and social values of plantation forests in New Zealand focusing in Hawke’s Bay. Identified stakeholder groups considered Erosion control, Water quality and...

The National Policy Statement on Freshwater Management now requires that water quality objectives and limits be set for all water bodies in New Zealand. Where objectives result in the development of nitrate limits for waterways and development pressure is likely to make these limits difficult to...

The River Values Assessment System (RiVAS and RiVAS+) are tools that enable regional councils and others to ‘objectively’ and systematically evaluate rivers in their regions for their relative importance across the range of river values (e.g., native birds, irrigation and tangata whenau)....

Nutrient emissions from agricultural land are now widely recognized as one of the key contributors to poor water quality in local lakes, rivers and streams. Nutrient trading has been suggested as a regulatory tool to improve and protect water quality. However, farmers’ attitudes suggest that...

Historically NZ dairy farming has held a position as the lowest cost, non-subsidized producers at the farm gate. Recently, this position has been eroded as a result of increases in labor and land costs, while other emerging countries, such as Argentina and Ukraine, have adopted lower cost...

This is an updated version posted 12/12/12. In the previous version attribute labels in Table 5 were incorrect for tribs and jobs.