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Farming
Author(s) -
Willis Richard
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
asia pacific viewpoint
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.571
H-Index - 38
eISSN - 1467-8373
pISSN - 1360-7456
DOI - 10.1111/1467-8373.00132
Subject(s) - agriculture , agricultural economics , profit (economics) , business , tourism , extensive farming , agricultural science , economics , mixed farming , geography , environmental science , archaeology , microeconomics
The continuation of the deregulated and restructured environment of the 1980s has produced differential impacts across different farming types and therefore varying results in different rural regions. There has been a major land use change away from traditional sheep farming to dairying on the flats and forestry on the steeper hills. Net farm profit during the 1990s has increased by 180 per cent on dairy farms but by only 97 per cent on sheep and beef farms. In one sense agriculture in New Zealand has become more ‘post‐productivist’ with a reduction in government support, a dramatic reduction in the number of farms, and an increase in farmland converted to urban and recreational uses such as farm tourism and golf course capitalism. But on the other hand New Zealand farmers still remain family rather than corporate, and they are firmly committed to increased production. Other challenges include pressure to deregulate the co‐operative and producer board system, and genetically modified food.