Higher animal welfare standards increase costs along the supply chain of certified animal-friendly products (AFP). Since the market outcome of certified AFP depends on consumer confidence toward supply chain operators complying with these standards, the role of trust in consumer...

Since 2000 six standardised biennial public surveys of the state of the New Zealand environment have been undertaken. A fresh water case study was included in the 2010 postal survey and in an electronic survey. Desirable futures for New Zealand's fresh water resources, sources of damage to...

Dairy producers have focused on increasing production and ignored the implications this may have on resource allocation efficiency. Averaged comparative figures are used to justify the production message but these cannot distinguish the point at which diminishing profitability from additional...

Policy decisions aimed at improving farm animal welfare involve balancing several competing objectives. Not only do such decisions involve tradeoffs between social, ethical, economic and welfare considerations, animal welfare itself is a multi-dimensional concept and some husbandry practices may...

The organics sector is expanding rapidly and the Board of Organics Aotearoa New Zealand considers that the future provision of an extension service is needed to underpin the ability of producers to efficiently convert to organic systems and then to further develop the sustainability of their...

There is an increasing demand for water resources in the Canterbury region. The impact of this demand has lead to unacceptable minimum river flows, which has resulted in adverse affects to river ecology. In an effort to resolve this problem water storage projects have gained considerable...

In environmental valuation studies with stated preference methods researchers often provide descriptions of status quo conditions which may differ from those perceived by respondents. Ignoring this difference in utility baselines may affect the way attributes are attended to in choice tasks and...

The livestock revolution that has occurred over the last few decades has seen a phenomenal increase in demand for livestock products in much of the developing world. This has largely been matched with growth in supplies, driven by government policies, and increased animal numbers and...

This paper updates an analysis of returns from major productive land uses in New Zealand carried out in 2008. Trends in profitability over time are shown, and a preliminary investigation of the relationship between land-use change towards forestry (new land planting) and forestry profitability...