Policy and Practice Certainty for Effective Uptake of Diffuse Pollution Practices in A Light-Touch Regulated Country

Abstract

Although the link between agriculture and diffuse water pollution has been understood for decades, there is still a need to implement effective measures to address this issue. In countries with light-touch regulation, such as New Zealand and Australia, most efforts to promote environmental management practices have relied on voluntary initiatives such as participatory research and extension programmes; the success of which is largely dependent on farmers' willingness and ability to adopt these practices. Increased understanding of the factors influencing farmer decision-making in this area would aid the promotion of effective advisory services. This study provides insights from 52 qualitative interviews with farmers and from observations of nine farmer meetings and field days. We qualitatively identify factors that influence farmer decision-making regarding the voluntary uptake of water quality practices and develop a typology for categorising farmers according to the factors that influence their decision-making. We find that in light-touch regulated countries certainty around policy and also around the effectiveness of practices is essential, particularly for farmers who delay action until compelled to act due to succession or regulation. The contribution of this paper is threefold: (i) it identifies factors influencing decisionmaking around the uptake of water quality practices in a light-touch regulated country; (ii) it develops a typology of different farmer types; and (iii) it provides recommendations on policy approaches for countries with light-touch regulation, which has potential relevance for any countries facing changes regarding their agricultural policy, such as post-Brexit policy in the UK.

Impact of farmer group participation on the adoption of sustainable farming practices—spatial analysis of New Zealand dairy farmers

“…Table 5 shows the ATEs across pre‐ and post‐matching regressions. The results show that participation in farmer groups increases the probability of adopting GMPs, which is in line with existing studies (Läpple & Hennessy, 2015; Knook et al., 2020; Yang & Knook, 2021). Note that differences exist in the odds of adoption across the estimation specifications: the regression results based on the unmatched sample produce the largest ATE estimates for the adoption of all four GMPs; the values of ATEs decrease after matching, with the smallest ATE estimates obtained from the regression based on the spatial matched sample.…”

Understanding the influence of indigenous values on change in the dairy industry

“…During the last three decades the sector has experienced significant development based on economic indicators: the sector accounted for approximately 30% of Aotearoa's merchandise exports in 2021 (Stats NZ 2022). The traditional dairy farming approach has developed because of a progression towards intensive dairying practices (Foote et al 2015), which have subsequently led to environmental challenges (Knook et al 2020a). Aotearoa is a country with 'light-touch' regulation in the agricultural sector; the Producer Support Estimate, also known as the gross monetary transfers taxpayers make to agricultural producers, is approximately 0.5%, compared to 20% in EU countries (OECD 2019).…”

Wellbeing, environmental sustainability and profitability: Including plurality of logics in participatory extension programmes for enhanced farmer resilience

“…The global agricultural sector is facing complex challenges, such as addressing greenhouse gas emissions (IPCC, 2014; Le Quéré et al., 2016) and water quality deterioration (Knook et al., 2020a) and attracting and retaining employees (Deming et al., 2020; Eastwood et al., 2019). Land managers are supported in building resilience to these challenges through initiatives such as participatory extension programmes (PEPs; Knook & Turner, 2020).…”