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North Island hill country farmers’ management response to issues of sustainability
Author(s) -
Smith W.,
Montgomery H.,
Rhodes T.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
new zealand geographer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.335
H-Index - 25
eISSN - 1745-7939
pISSN - 0028-8144
DOI - 10.1111/j.1745-7939.2007.00086.x
Subject(s) - sustainability , agriculture , geography , profitability index , work (physics) , agricultural economics , wool , business , economics , archaeology , ecology , engineering , mechanical engineering , finance , biology
This paper explores the impediments to optimizing the economic and environmental performance of agriculture in the North Island hill country. The work draws on a range of data sources including consolidated statistical data obtained from The New Zealand Meat and Wool Board's Economic Service (NZMWB) for all North Island hill and hard country farms for the period 1976–77 to 1996–97 and interviews in June and July 1999 with 35 farm households throughout the North Island. Despite generally low levels of profitability, there is considerable evidence that New Zealand farmers have engaged in moves to sustainability to a significant extent.