Co-innovation can be effective for complex challenges-involving interactions amongst multiple stakeholders, viewpoints, perceptions, practices and interests across programmes, sectors and national systems. Approaches to challenges in the primary sector have tended to be linear, where tools and outputs are developed by a few, mostly scientists/researchers, and then extended to stakeholders. A co-innovation approach first deciphers and delineates the biophysical, societal, regulatory, policy, economic and environmental drivers, constraints and controls influencing these challenges at multiple levels. Second, stakeholder interactions and perspectives can inform and change the focus as well as help in co-developing solutions to deliver agreed outcomes. However, there is limited systematic and comparative research on how coinnovation works out in different projects. Here we analyse the results of applying a co-innovation approach to five research projects in the New Zealand primary sector. The projects varied in depth and breadth of stakeholder engagement, availability of ready-made solutions and prevalence of interests and conflicts. The projects show how and why co-innovation approaches in some cases contributed to a shared understanding of complex problems. Our results confirm the context specificity of co-innovation practices.

Purpose: An innovation network, called the Pasture Improvement Leadership Group (PILG), was formed to improve the quality and consistency of advice provided to dairy farmers in New Zealand, after they expressed dissatisfaction with their pastures. The aim of this paper is to better understand the challenges of forming and maintaining networks to coordinate advisory services, with a focus on the dynamics between public and private sector actors. Methodology: The concept of innovation networks is used to describe the PILG, as well as to diagnose the effectiveness of the PILG, and to identify and discuss critical success factors for the development of an innovation network involving public and private sector actors. Findings: Six critical success factors were identified, such as: a sense of urgency and willingness to work together; sharing a common vision; a broad representation of the involved or affected stakeholders; and having a neutral innovation broker. Challenges remain around the level of interaction and the different incentives of public and private sector actors. Theoretical implication: This work suggests that not only the formation of an innovation network requires careful consideration regarding the purpose, governance, and the type of actors involved, but that the maintenance of an innovation network is equally important. Practical implication: The results have been influential within DairyNZ, providing evidence that innovation networks are effective and consequently are being applied more widely in the New Zealand dairy industry. Originality/Value: This is the first New Zealand study into the development of innovation networks aimed at collaboration between public and private sector actors in a highly privatised extension system and contributes to the emerging body of work on coordination in pluralistic extension systems. ARTICLE HISTORY

In 2010, Waikato and Bay of Plenty dairy farmers were surveyed by the Pasture Improvement Leadership Group (PILG) to better understand their attitudes, confidence and ability to make informed decisions on their pasture renewal practices. To assess changes in farmer behaviour towards pasture renewal and to measure the impact of the PILG, the survey was repeated in 2015. In comparison to 2010, the 2015 survey results were more positive. Farmers' confidence, attitude and satisfaction with their ability to successfully renew pasture, and to improve pasture performance have increased. However, some scepticism remains about time investment and the financial return from pasture renewal. These results suggest that the PILG aim of ensuring that consistent messages relating to pasture renewal are provided to farmers, appears to have been met. Farmers indicated in the 2015 survey that not only is there now better information available in comparison to 2010, the messages are also more consistent across the industry. Keywords: pasture renewal, pasture performance, farmer confidence, farmer attitude, communication

Pasture renewal on the milking platform of dairy farms may or may not involve growing forage crops in the transition from old to new pasture.

The farm system model, Farmax Dairy Pro, was used to evaluate the impact of new pastures on dairy farm profitability, assuming a range of pasture yields and qualities, and different levels of persistence in the new pastures, which were established on 10% of the farm annually. Scenarios were tested for Waikato, Taranaki, Canterbury and Southland dairy farm systems. Assuming a $6.50/kg MS milk payment and a response to pasture renewal of 10% in dry matter yield and a 0.6 MJ ME/kg DM increase in quality, increasing persistence from 4 years up to 8 years was modelled to increase dairy farm profitability by $271/ha to $478/ha. Management practices, including selections of cultivars and endophytes, that improve pasture persistence are likely to increase dairy farm profitability. Keywords: dairy farms, modelling, pasture renewal, persistence