Transformation toward agricultural sustainability in New Zealand hill country pastoral landscapes

A multi‐stakeholder representative group was established to oversee a project examining the economic and environmental performance of a representative North Island hill country catchment farm at Whatawhata in the western Waikato region of New Zealand. The group included representation from landowners, government agencies and scientists. The group was facilitated through an action research approach incorporating three phases: (1) awareness; (2) forecasting; and (3) implementation. The group identified a set of goals and indicators relevant to achieving a ‘well managed rural hill catchment’ The indicators were used to (a) assess the current state of the catchment farm in relation to the goals; (b) evaluate a range of strategies for improving system performance and (c) evaluate progress toward the goals following land use changes implemented within the catchment farm. Key issues for the group included the availability of data and the setting of appropriate performance benchmarks. From both economic and environmental points of view, the existing farm system was failing to meet the goals set by the management group. Key factors driving these outcomes included the physical and productivity limitations of the soil resource, poor livestock performance and poor water quality. A mixture of research observations, decision support models and expert stakeholder knowledge indicated scope for improving performance through forestry, riparian management, erosion control and livestock intensification options. Based on their evaluation of the forecasting results, the group developed a new land use plan, which depended on significant capital investment in land use and enterprise change. Subsequent monitoring of soils, vegetation, water quality, animal production and financial results over four years showed marked improvement in a number of key performance indicators. In particular, sediment and phosphorus loads and faecal coliform levels decreased rapidly, native forest fragments showed early signs of restoration, lamb and beef productivity increased and the per hectare financial returns of the pastoral component increased. Better matching of land use to land capability has led to short‐term improvement in some aspects of the economic and environmental performance of the catchment farm. Progress toward a more sustainable agricultural system was achieved, but at a substantial cost for transformation of the biophysical system, which has implications for the wider sector.