This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY
Röling and others argue that research and extension should not be seen as separate processes invo... more Röling and others argue that research and extension should not be seen as separate processes involving distinct institutions which must somehow be linked. Rather, scientists, specialists, extension workers, consultants and producers should be seen as participants in a single agricultural knowledge and information system (AKIS). This perspective on research, extension and adoption as activities that occur within a network offers new insights into the way in which technology transfer occurs, and new ideas as to how to increase the rate of adoption of new ideas and techniques in farming. In this study, we use network management theory and applied network analysis to operationalise the concept of an AKIS and to test the relationships between system characteristics and the effectiveness of technology transfer. The paper is based on the analysis of two networks associated with a large multi-site regional research and extension project in the temperate high rainfall zone of southeastern Australia. The results indicate that network structure and the performance of individual network members have a significant impact on the ability of an AKIS to facilitate technology transfer.
medRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory), May 26, 2022
doi: medRxiv preprint NOTE: This preprint reports new research that has not been certified by pee... more doi: medRxiv preprint NOTE: This preprint reports new research that has not been certified by peer review and should not be used to guide clinical practice.
1999 Conference (43th), January 20-22, 1999, Christchurch, New Zealand, 1999
Röling and others argue that research and extension should not be seen as separate processes invo... more Röling and others argue that research and extension should not be seen as separate processes involving distinct institutions which must somehow be linked. Rather, scientists, specialists, extension workers, consultants and producers should be seen as participants in a single agricultural knowledge and information system (AKIS). This perspective on research, extension and adoption as activities that occur within a network offers new insights into the way in which technology transfer occurs, and new ideas as to how to increase the rate of adoption of new ideas and techniques in farming. In this study, we use network management theory and applied network analysis to operationalise the concept of an AKIS and to test the relationships between system characteristics and the effectiveness of technology transfer. The paper is based on the analysis of two networks associated with a large multi-site regional research and extension project in the temperate high rainfall zone of southeastern Australia. The results indicate that network structure and the performance of individual network members have a significant impact on the ability of an AKIS to facilitate technology transfer.
Proceedings of the New Zealand Grassland Association, 2004
The allocation of water resources between competing demands from agriculture, industry, energy, t... more The allocation of water resources between competing demands from agriculture, industry, energy, the environment and urban uses is an increasingly contentious issue in New Zealand. As a result there is a growing interest in the design of policies for better allocating water and policies for promoting the efficient use of water. For many decades governments in Australia have sought to develop and implement policies to promote the optimal allocation and efficient use of water. A wide variety of policies including regulatory, voluntary and market based approaches have been tried and significant modifications and improvement have been made to these policies over time. The experience in Australia has been that the transfer of water between agricultural uses occurs much more slowly than was originally expected. One reason for this is the importance of the reliability of water supply as a key contextual determinant of the feasibility and viability of different agricultural uses of water. While water supplies in NZ may be more reliable than in Australia, reliability can and does change as a result of changes in the rules governing the allocation of water. The experience in Australia with regards to promoting efficient use of water in agriculture is that farmers consider a wide range of needs and contextual factors when making decisions about adopting practices to improve water use efficiency (Armstrong 2004; Kaine & Bewsell 2002a; Burrows et al. 2002). Such decisions involve balancing a complex combination of human, production, environmental, economic and financial components of the farm business (Makeham & Malcolm 1993). Experience in Australia also shows that when they do act, farmers modify the practices or technology to ensure they meet the key needs of their farm business (Armstrong 2002; Kaine & Bewsell 2000a, 2000b, 2001, 2002b). Hence, when regulatory or forced change occurs farmers respond in a wide range of ways-many of which are unpredictable to the policy maker and at least some of which are not consistent with the intention of the regulation. These are deliberate and sensible reactions on the part of farmers given their farm contexts. Consequently, government in NZ needs a sophisticated understanding of farming systems and farm contexts if they are to experience fewer surprises and more successes with their initiatives in water policy.
Appraisal of agroforestry investment under uncertainty: A South Australian case study
Australian Forestry, 1993
Summary The relative economic merits of agriculture, agroforestry and woodlots depend on the bala... more Summary The relative economic merits of agriculture, agroforestry and woodlots depend on the balance of losses in agricultural production and gains from timber production. The merits of these land uses are usually assessed in terms of net present values, and the effects of uncertainty are usually incorporated through sensitivity analyses. Unfortunately, sensitivity analyses often fail to incorporate adequately the probabilities that outcomes will occur, and so can often give misleading results. An alternative procedure to incorporate uncertainty is risk analysis through monte carlo simulation. This procedure is applied to appraise an agroforestry investment in South Australia and to compare it to agriculture and woodlots. The procedure is assessed against the more usual sensitivity analysis, and the economic merits of the three land uses are compared.
WithmQrethan400abattoirs andslfiughterb(>uses J)peratif1~'\jnAttstnllia.ltw~ oot possible to exam... more WithmQrethan400abattoirs andslfiughterb(>uses J)peratif1~'\jnAttstnllia.ltw~ oot possible to examine each wOrk$tothendr{lw .~pclusions aboutthe:totalsector~ Foctlsing on a sample of .tums was the only vjableapproacb~ With lilllited'1esearehfunds8vailable, onlytho~works in 'NSWcouldbe considered. HQwto.setect theappropri~tefirms .to study in order to capture the:important feanrres of'tbeindustry is acritica1issuewhenuslng case .. studiesas a researrb 'tool. In this case, the problem w8show tQselectabattoirs.in NSW that capture the irnPOrtant (eatures of the totill by-ptodJ,lctsse<;:tor. Whentllckling thisissuc" cluster .analysis seemed an appropriatetool.to use. Cluster analysis isa generictetm encolllpassingarange oftechnique$ thatse¢k ,tQcla~sify :8 set of entities into a number ofctassc$.such ,that the entities withinc~sha.ve :gteatetshnilarity to each otherlbantheybavetoentities in.otherclasses{Everitt, 19.81). ,Applyillgcluster :ana1ysis .to tbethe abnttoirsinNSWresultedin .soluUonswhich'initially•appeai'edro be rairlyrobustandintuitivelyappealing~ However, during the Malysi's certainissues~e.to light that were cf)t1sidered wortb.examiningintJlQre detail. These ,related•tQ the different fonnationrules that clustering algorithms apply ingeneratlJlg .clUSfers a.ndtlle concept of similarity. Both issues are discussed 1n ... lcjilperand possiblc•sotutioos.offered. TheClusterim: Concept There are essentially 5 steps involved lnany classification procedute (Vogel, 1975). These are: * the selection of tbeparameters to be used for the classification • the choice of the• similarity ~su", * the choice of the cluster algorithm to employ. *.tbedeelsion as to 'tbeappropriatenurriberof clusters * an evaluation of the usefulness of•the resulting classification (the clusters)
Installation of tailwater reuse systems in irrigated farms is encouraged to achieve river water q... more Installation of tailwater reuse systems in irrigated farms is encouraged to achieve river water quality outcomes however, assessment of their efficacy in improving irrigation efficiency or intercepting nutrients and chemicals is limited to a few studies. The lifestyle, productive and environmental consequences of tailwater reuse dam on dairy farms was investigated using interviews, field monitoring and risk assessment in the Shepparton Irrigation Region (SIR) of Australia. Thirty one reuse dams were monitored during the 2013/14 and 2014/15 irrigation seasons, with water quantity and quality data collected. The farmers believe that reuse dams provide greater flexibility in water management and recycling on farm. Between 3 and 28% of water delivered to a reuse dam catchment was captured in the reuse dam. On average 63% of the total water captured in a reuse dam was pumped out for reuse. Only 14% of dam capacity was available to capture unanticipated storm runoff for 90% of the time. Reuse water satisfied environmental guidelines thresholds with respect to EC, pH and NOx-N, but greatly exceeded maximum levels for TN, TP and FRP with median concentrations of 8.1, 3.7, and 1.9 mg/L, respectively. Under current irrigation and resue practices productive risk appears low however, there is a likelihood of reuse water spills to regional drains following 25 mm in 24 h rainfall events. Even in the absence of large rainfall events number of spills were recorded on 46% of farms. Although it appears that the reuse dams in the SIR provide productivity benefits and environmental benefits to some extent, current reuse dam management practices on many farms do not conform to key recommended practices. Thus, the risk to the environment from spills of nutrient enriched water is greater than that envisaged by the regulatory agencies. The impact of water spilled into the drains is unclear and requires further investigation.
iv Certification vi Table of contents vii List of tables xi List of figures xiii The Adoption of ... more iv Certification vi Table of contents vii List of tables xi List of figures xiii The Adoption of Agricultural Innovations 1 1.
Shallow groundwater use behaviour in the Shepparton Irrigation Region (SIR) in wet and dry conditions
This study was commissioned by the regional water authority to understand shallow groundwater use... more This study was commissioned by the regional water authority to understand shallow groundwater users' expectations, needs and behaviours to inform the development of a new management approach regarding shallow groundwater. Producers' decisions and behaviour in relation to shallow groundwater can be explained and predicted given knowledge of the 'farm context'. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with 45 active users of shallow groundwater from across the Shepparton Irrigation Region (SIR). These users had groundwater with varying salinity levels and usage volumes. The interviews were designed to obtain information on how and why groundwater was used, users' attitudes and priorities on groundwater resource management, and their views on the risks associated with salinity management. The interviews revealed factors that were used to construct a farm context tree which classified interviewees into eight user segments. The segments characterised groundwater us...
The adoption of new technologies and practices is fundamental to having the capacity to adapt to ... more The adoption of new technologies and practices is fundamental to having the capacity to adapt to climate change and ameliorate resource degradation. Consequently, having the ability to predict the scale and rate of adoption by farmers of agricultural innovations is central to gauging their adaptive capacity. It is also crucial to assessing the likely compliance of farmers with change-seeking incentives and regulations. In this paper we describe a novel approach to predicting rates of adoption with respect to agricultural technologies and practices drawing on a dual-process model of consumer decision-making and a method for describing the complexity of innovations in farm systems. We tested the approach using data collected through a survey of dairy farmers in the Waikato and Waipa regions of New Zealand. In the survey we asked 200 farmers, chosen at random, about their perceptions of the complexity and relative advantage of various agricultural and resource management practices, and...
Current wine industry best practice is for wine grape growers to base their fertiliser and nutrit... more Current wine industry best practice is for wine grape growers to base their fertiliser and nutrition management decisions on soil and petiole test results. Yet industry surveys have found that only a small proportion of growers regularly use these tests. In this qualitative study 45 wine grape growers from cool, warm and hot climate wine grape producing regions in southeast Australia were interviewed on their use of soil and petiole testing, in order to explain why, and when these growers used, or did not use, soil or petiole tests. We found that some growers only used soil or petiole testing once, seeking the benefit of accurate information to enable them to determine what nutrition inputs to incorporate into the soil when establishing a vineyard, or to enable them to diagnose a vineyard problem. Other growers used testing for one to four years (short-term use) "to get a handle" on a new vineyard or to evaluate changes in vineyard conditions or management. A few growers tested regularly on a continuing basis (long-term use) to monitor a problem, guide their fertiliser inputs or to ensure there were no nutrition problems arising (risk management). Some growers did not perceive that they needed the information provided by soil and petiole tests. These growers had extensive experience in growing vines, or had inherited established vineyards. They stated that they used the same nutrition program each year, were satisfied with the performance of their vines, and did not have any nutrition related problems.
The effect of dairy farming on water quality in New Zealand streams has been identified as an imp... more The effect of dairy farming on water quality in New Zealand streams has been identified as an important environmental issue. Stream fencing, to keep cattle out of streams, is seen as a way to improve water quality. Fencing ensures that cattle cannot defecate in the stream, prevents bank erosion, and protects the aquatic habitat. Stream fencing targets have been set by the dairy industry. In this paper the results of a study to identify the factors influencing dairy farmers' decisions to adopt stream fencing are outlined. Qualitative methods were used to gather data from 30 dairy farmers in four New Zealand catchments. Results suggest that farm contextual factors influenced farmers' decision making when considering stream fencing. Farmers were classified into four segments based on their reasons for investing in stream fencing. These reasons were fencing boundaries, fencing for stock control, fencing to protect animal health, and fencing because of pressure to conform to local government guidelines or industry codes of practice. This suggests that adoption may be slow in the absence of on-farm benefits, that promotion of stream fencing needs to be strongly linked to on-farm benefits, and that regulation could play a role in ensuring greater adoption of stream fencing.
When designing extension, it would be useful to predict where farmers are likely to seek informat... more When designing extension, it would be useful to predict where farmers are likely to seek information when making a decision. Towards achieving this goal, 40 farmers were surveyed when making a total of 60 purchases to test whether their level of 'involvement', or the importance of a product influenced how many sources of information they used. It was found that the higher the level of farmer involvement with the purchase, the more sources of information they used. Highly involving products were generally those that were expensive, novel or risky to purchase, such as farm machinery, and some livestock and consumables. Routine or low-risk purchases such as dog food and fertiliser were low involvement for most farmers and they sought little, mainly retail, information. The implications of these findings for the design and placement of extension material are discussed.
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