What You Can Do At Work
Agribusiness plays a key role in improving New Zealand’s social, cultural and environmental wellbeing. Our Land and Water researchers work with a range of businesses in the food and fibre industries. If there are synergies between your work and our research, we’d love to hear from you
Our Land and Water research-backed resources
Our Land and Water aims to help primary sector businesses capture and share with producers more of the value consumers associate with our products.
- Our Integrating Value Chains research has developed online tools to access and analyse results of consumer insight surveys in California and Shanghai about consumer behaviour, preferences, technology use, understanding of Māori enterprise, and country of origin preferences:
- Maximising Export Returns is an interactive dashboard that allows users to explore the credence attributes most highly valued by some of New Zealand’s key export markets.
- Primary sector producers and entrepreneurs can use The Matrix of Drivers research to meet market demands or seek out new high-value, low-environmental-footprint opportunities, and avoid lurching from one consumer trend to the next (see Table 3.1, PDF).
- Find more Our Land and Water-backed economic tools in the Toolbox.
Market development
To improve New Zealand’s primary sector production and productivity, while improving or maintaining our water quality, we need high-value, low-environmental-footprint opportunities – and we need to tell a great story in our overseas markets.
- Beef and Lamb NZ has many publicly available resources and case studies related to the development of their ‘NZ story’ brand, Taste Pure Nature. The brand journey document, The Red Meat Story Journey, may be of interest to those in other sectors. Research from our Incentives for Change research theme contributed to the development of the brand.
- New Zealand Story has resources, workshops and case studies to help Kiwi businesses share their New Zealand story on the world stage.
- The Ministry for Primary Industries publishes market insight reports and has an Economic Intelligence Unit that develops market information for the primary industries.
- Agmardt provides grants for market insight investment, establishing collaborative relationships, and developing innovative ideas.
- The Te Hono Tools for Business page is a portal to excellent advice for primary sector businesses. It’s a conduit to information on design principles, training and leadership development opportunities, beginning to export or adding value to exports, business participation, innovation and communication.
- Our Next Generation Systems research is investigating new and diverse land uses and systems of primary production, to meet market opportunities.
On-farm business development
Farmers and growers wanting to develop their business and lift profitability can access resources through their industry body and via the sources below.
- RMPP has developed an online business planning tool called BizPlan which helps farmers identify their financial goals, production goals and environmental goals. This and many more programmes, resources, learning modules and tools can be found on the RMPP website.
- DairyNZ has tools for business planning, financial management and managing employees that may be useful for farmers and growers in any sector .
- The Agri-Women’s Development Trust runs several programmes to equip and support women to generate economic, social and environmental progress in the primary sector and rural communities.
- Rabobank runs Executive Development and Farm Managers Programs.
Industry insights
Economic factors are a key factor driving land-use change. Here’s where you can access industry insights, facts and fresh thinking.
- KPMG Agribusiness Agenda is an annual report that offers agribusiness insights and analysis of trends
- The Situation and Outlook for Primary Industries (SOPI) reports from the Ministry for Primary Industries are a great way to keep across the export value of New Zealand’s major agricultural production systems.
- Ministry for the Environment regularly publish domain reports on the state of New Zealand’s land, fresh water, air, marine and atmosphere.
- Beef and Lamb NZ produces an annual compendium of NZ Farm Facts that covers all sectors (2018, PDF)
- Participants in the Kellogg Rural Leadership Programme publish insightful reports at the end of their projects.
- Nuffield Farming Scholars also publish insightful reports.
- ANZ Agri Focus is issued bimonthly and includes updates on price movements in all sectors.
- Our Land and Water occasionally commission think pieces, which you can read on our website.
Next Generation Influencers
Next Generation Influencers is a leadership programme that exposes influential, innovative future leaders to our research programmes, with an emphasis on key Our Land and Water research concepts. The programme also encourages Our Land and Water researchers to focus on implementation by interacting with and supporting those who will play important roles in realising the Challenge mission well beyond the Challenge research horizon. Read about our 2018-2019 Next Generation Influencers here.