Values, trust and management in NZ Agriculture

This study provides empirical evidence of the link between outlook and practice among farmers, foresters, and growers in New Zealand. Specifically, we use a large, nationally representative survey to assess how foci on production and environmental outcomes influence the adoption of six good management practices. We then show that while environmentally-oriented and production-oriented decision makers are statistically more prepared to take risks, all rural decision makers are more likely to adopt good practices after seeing new technologies and practices successfully demonstrated. Next, we show that social and professional networks are small, often limited to five or fewer operators, which begs the question about how risk-averse operators, who rely on demonstration before adoption, can be convinced to adopt good practice. Hence, we ultimately analyse trust in order to identify other potential demonstrators or models. We find that veterinarians are the most trusted source of information and that government (at all levels) is the least.