3 January 1985 Agricultural growth subject to reaction to changes in farming

Farming's ability to change in response to economic and social pressures is the most important strength of New Zealand agriculture, and this must not be impeded if agricultural growth is to continue.

This view is given in a discussion paper by Dr E.A. Attwood, Visiting Research Fellow with the Agricultural Economics Research Unit at Lincoln College.

Dr Attwood is on leave from the Irish Department of Agriculture, where he is chief economist.

New markets, new technologies, low prices, difficult climates and other factors can be assimilated only if individual farms can respond quickly and fully, he says.

However, Dr Attwood warns that continued responsiveness should not be taken for granted.

If a dynamic expanding agriculture is accepted as vital to the New Zealand economy, the evolution of farming over the last decade has been of great benefit.

Changes in farming over the 10 years have been more fundamental than has been generally acknowledged.

Many factors have contributed to the changes in farming.

There has been a big growth in farm labour, and many more women are now known to be in farming.

If a dynamic expanding agriculture is accepted as vital to the New Zealand economy, the evolution of farming over the last decade has been of great benefit.

Changes in farming over the 10 years have been more fundamental than has been generally acknowledged.

Many factors have contributed to the changes in farming.

There has been a big growth in farm labour, and many more women are now known to be in farming.

The nature of farming in New Zealand high ratio of land and capital to labour, particularly family labour has not made a Government farm structural policy necessary.

Such agricultural policies are important in most developed countries today.

However, this does not imply changes in farm structures are not a matter of concern in official policy.

Government measures influencing farming generally are seen for immediate effects rather than in the context of farm development as a whole.

Most important is that the ability of New Zealand farming to adapt to economic, social and technological changes should not be impaired.

Steps to constrain, modify or speed up present adjustments of farm structure should be considered in the light of the total effects these may have.

The capacity of farm businesses to change their economic structure to produce more competitively should not be hindered.

Dr Attwood says more research is needed to understand more fully relationships between changes in major production resources at farm level.

However, research spending on understanding the causes and consequences of structural change seemed to be very small.

This seemed to reflect the tendency to take structural change for granted, or perhaps largely to ignore structural developments altogether.

Dr Attwood says that perhaps the very dynamic and responsive character of New Zealand farming is because there has been relatively little intervention, unlike the failure of specific farm structural policies in many other developed countries.

Further information from Dr E.A. Attwood, Agricultural Economics Intelligence Unit, Lincoln College, Canterbury 8150