Rapid Reregulation, Agricultural Restructuring, and the Reimaging of Agriculture in New Zealand¹

Abstract

As a member of the Cairns Group, New Zealand is an excellent case for investigation of the impacts of market‐based restructuring and the emergence of new mechanisms for regulation. The paper examines how agriculture in New Zealand has been impacted by economic reforms that have fundamentally changed the nature and interrelations of regulatory arrangements and economic processes. The paper sketches the origins of New Zealand's agricultural crisis and the main features of the reforms, outlines developments in several global commodity chains (meat, dairy, apples) that since the mid 1980s have shaped regulatory and governance adjustments, and explores dimensions of a reimaging of agriculture in new conditions. The paper concludes that agri‐food restructuring in New Zealand is implicated in the wider integrative project of globalization. Agriculture's reconstruction reopens the scope and terms under which New Zealand labor and households might be able to participate in the agri‐food sector.

Neoliberal natures on the farm: Farmer autonomy and cooperation in comparative perspective

“…In 1984, the New Zealand liberalization experiment, particularly around agriculture, eliminated any market buffering mechanisms for farmers and pushed the country toward almost exclusively export orientations (e.g., 95 percent NZ milk is exported) (Johnsen, 2004 andLe Heron andRoche, 1999). This tide of "restructuring" in New Zealand prompted the consolidation in dairy (Gray and Le Heron, 2010: 5).…”

Market liberalisation and drought in New Zealand: A case of ‘double exposure’ for dryland sheep farmers?

“…Many experienced heavy indebtedness in the 1980s as the result of a combination of a 40% decline in real land values, a general downward trend in returns for produce, the removal of all forms of subsidies, added costs of inputs, and higher interest rates for loans. This led to the widespread slashing of discretionary expenditure (Smith & Montgomery, 2003), engagement in off-farm income generating activities (Le Heron & Roche, 1999;Johnsen, 2004), and/or, de-stocking, de-intensification, cost-cutting and agricultural diversification (MacLeod and Moller, 2006). While indebtedness was a major problem for many farmers there was some respite in the form of an extensive program of 'debt forgiveness' (20% of total farm debt - Smith & Montgomery, 2003) that accompanied the removal of the subsidies.…”

“…Finally, between 1986 and1988, lamb prices slumped to 27.3% of their 1979-81 value and mutton prices collapsed completely so that slaughtering animals represented a net loss (Cumberworth and Jarvis, 1994). Understandably this contributed to a rapid decline in sheep numbers during this period (see Figure 1) leading, in turn, to a process of restructuring across the commodity chain as stock numbers fell and processors were forced to close (Le Heron & Roche, 1999). Overall, sheep farmers (particularly hill country farmers - Smith & Montgomery, 2003) suffered severely in this period.…”

"It just goes to kill Ticos": national market regulation and the political ecology of farmers' pesticide use in Costa Rica

“…Costa Rica's Blue Seal program is run by supermarkets and the Sanidad Vegetal department of the Ministerio de Agricultura y Ganadería and has the goal of certifying produce that complies with Costa Rican pesticide MRLs (Kopper 2002). It is voluntary and is designed mostly for supermarkets or large intermediaries that supply supermarkets, reflecting a broader trend toward private standard regulation in agro-food systems (Le Heron and Roche 1999;Marsden et al 1999;Murdoch et al 2000). To receive the seal the company must comply with the standards for six months and must regularly supply a determined number of samples for laboratory analysis.…”