Milk is an important dairy product in U.S. food retail. Lifestyle changes toward climate-conscious consumption, animal welfare, and food safety concerns have increased the popularity of plant-based milk alternatives. This study is focused on such beverages and provides insights and best practice recommendations for marketing managers in the U.S. food retail sector. An online survey was distributed to explore factors explaining the intentions of U.S. consumers to purchase and pay a premium for plant-based milk alternatives. Food curiosity and food price inflation were identified as relevant for both willingness to buy and willingness to pay a price premium. In addition, animal welfare concerns and the green and clean product image of plant-based alternatives were relevant to the willingness to pay a premium for plant-based milk.

This article, based on a project undertaken for Takahuri Whenua (the NZ Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Research Centre Programme), considers emerging opportunities in New Zealand in the plant-based animal product alternative and gluten-free markets. Three exemplar products are considered – peas (could also be fava beans), oats and Chestnuts

Since the occurrence of COVID-19 and food price inflation, alternative forms of food procurement increased in popularity. The present study is dedicated to urban foraging and aims to explore key factors driving food foraging behavior in the U.S. Two specific foraging behaviors, namely “leaving food behind” or “taking it all”, have been investigated in a gardening and non-gardening location. Leaving food behind is crucial to sustainable foraging practices, as it allows plants and ecosystems to recover and promotes fairness in foraging communities. Data was procured from an online consumer survey and analyzed using SmartPLS 4, which allowed the use of partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). PLS-SEM is particularly suitable for complex exploratory studies as it does not require distributional assumptions. Results indicate that nature and food attitudes predict attitudes toward urban foraging. Foraging attitudes, such as food foraging is challenging and food foraging benefits people and the planet, which are the most important drivers for taking or leaving behaviors in both types of locations. These findings are of relevance to managers in municipalities, landscape designers, horticultural businesses, and other stakeholders who create, shape, and govern landscapes used for food foraging.

This report presents the findings of a value chain assessment undertaken as part of Takahuri Whenua. The objectives for the project were to investigate the potential markets for new crops, their infrastructure requirements, and to provide an indication of the supply requirements for an economic processing plant.

Three crops (products) were selected for consideration: Oats for milk; Peas (or beans) for protein extraction and; Chestnuts for flour production.

We use structural vector autoregressions to analyse the dynamic effects of shocks to natural gas and nitrogenous fertiliser prices on three major cereal crops: maize, rice and wheat. We find that the response of cereal prices to natu-ral gas and fertiliser price shocks has been relatively small, instantaneous and transitory. These findings suggest that crop prices may change rapidly in response to energy and fertiliser prices, even when there are no shifts in the under-lying fundamentals in crop markets. Furthermore, because the effects of the shocks dissipate rather quickly, short-term measures to address swings in food prices may suffice.

Introduction: This study is dedicated to urban foraging and explores key factors that determine consumer willingness to try foraged food, willingness to spend time and effort, accept risk as well as make a commitment towards food foraging. Methods: A conceptual model is presented where general perceptions of nature, food foraging, and Covid-19 influence 3 specific attitudes about food foraging which drive 4 behavioural intentions towards food foraging. The model was tested using partial least square structural equation modelling. Results: Results emphasize that the strongest driver of willingness to try are the approval of responsible food foraging activities and the individual benefits of food foraging. For the willingness to spend extra time and effort, all the predictors have some impact. In terms of willingness to accept risk, approval of responsible food foraging activities and the societal benefits of food foraging are influential. For commitment to food foraging, the individual and societal benefits are the most important key drivers. Discussion: These findings are of relevance to marketing managers in the food industry and gastronomy, as well as municipalities, landscape designers, and horticultural businesses.

Consumer willingness to accept alternative meat products has been widely explored. However, few studies have explored the key factors driving and inhibiting willingness to try, buy and pay a price premium for plant-based proteins, fungal-based proteins and cultured muscle tissue. Therefore, the present study is dedicated to this research gap and proposes a model that combines driving and inhibiting factors such as food neophobia, food technology neophobia, the environmental and specific benefits of alternative meat products as well as intrinsic attributes of meat such as taste, texture and smell. Partial least squares structural equation modeling shows that the largest drivers of consumer willingness to consume meat substitute are their perceived suitability (specific benefits) and environmental impact. Conversely, the biggest inhibitors to consumption were the nutritional importance of meat, the importance of meat taste, texture, and smell, and food neophobia and food technology neophobia. How the drivers and inhibitors varied between plant-based, fungal-based, and cultured muscle tissue are discussed and implications for industry leaders and future research are discussed.

Freshwater resources around the world are under increasing pressure from agricultural activities. As a result, regulatory frameworks around on-farm environmental compliance have become more complex. Consequently, farm plans which have been used in New Zealand to identify risks to and develop mitigation strategies for freshwater quality can be time consuming and costly to develop and monitor. Using semi-structured interviews, this study investigated the views of the regulators working in environmental policy and implementation on the use of drones to increase the efficiency of on-farm environmental compliance. Results show that drones can improve process robustness by providing an aerial view, and that they are quicker and safer to use on steeper contoured farms. However, there is confusion around the permissions required in order to capture footage, its ownership and storage, and who has access rights to the footage. This ambiguity in the implementation of environmental regulations can lead to uncertainty on the part of policy implementors around how to integrate drones in on-farm environmental compliance. In addition, positive relationships between farmers and compliance officers are needed in order for the benefits of drone use to be realised for on-farm environmental compliance purposes

Forest supply chain has drawn increasing attention worldwide. This paper develops a supply chain risk (SCR) framework in the forest industry. Forest supply chain risk has become an obstacle to gaining competitive advantages and developing sustainable forestry. However, very few studies attempt to investigate SCR in an integrated forest supply chain. It is essential to understand and manage these risks, which may impede the industry’s performance improvement. An extensive literature review, and Delphi study are performed to develop and identify the major forest SCRs. The result has shown that the five types of forest SCRs are recognized. In this study, we extend SCR into the forest sector and contribute to the forest supply chain management literature. Further research is needed to address specific problems associated with types of SCRs and develop appropriate forest SCR mitigation strategies in contexts.

Innovation and technology are a feature of New Zealand’s dairy sector. To overcome current challenges, dairy farmers require agile and multidimensional innovation, supported by forward-looking and integrated policy from both the sector and government. In this paper, we outline some of the current dairy sector challenges, and potential technologies to address these challenges. We focus on the future for digital agriculture innovation and discuss policy approaches to enable the sector to leverage digitalisation. These approaches include co-innovation, responsible innovation, multi-scale approaches, micro-innovation and poly-innovation and mission-oriented innovation. Digital agriculture and policy may interact in two ways: (1) policy may be used to enhance digital agriculture innovation and, (2) digitalisation itself may act to enhance agricultural policy design and delivery. Overall, innovation policy requires greater directionality, use of policy bundles and a focus on technology as a mediator of new dairy farming practices and institutional configurations.

Cultured meat is a relatively new product, enjoying consumer appreciation as a more sustainable meat option. The present study builds on a sample from a diverse set of countries and continents, including China, the US, the UK, France, Spain, Netherlands, New Zealand, Brazil, and the Dominican Republic and uses partial least square structural equation modelling. The proposed conceptual model identified key factors driving and inhibiting consumer willingness to try, buy, and pay a price premium for cultured meat. Results relate to the overall sample of 3091 respondents and two sub-sample comparisons based on gender and meat consumption behaviour. Food neophobia, having food allergies, being a locavore, and having concerns about food technology were found to be inhibiting factors towards willingness to try, buy, and pay a price premium for cultured meat. Food curiosity, meat importance, and a consumer’s perception of cultured meat as a realistic alternative to regular meat were found to be important drivers that positively impacted consumers’ willingness to try, buy and pay more. Best practice recommendations address issues facing marketing managers in food retail and gastronomy.

Enhancing primary sector production and productivity while maintaining and improving our land and water quality for future generations is a key outcome of the National Science Challenge for Our Land and Water. It is therefore important to identify the hierarchy of international and national issues in order to provide an evidence base to guide investment and inform the Challenge Research Strategy. To this end, it was proposed that a small project be conducted, and regularly updated. This project aims to deliver an overview of international and domestic drivers, as well as issues that are of particular relevance to the New Zealand primary sector and land use. This overview is based on a literature search of the most important issues, followed by a survey of key stakeholders as to their opinion of the most important issues affecting New Zealand land use and land use practice from overseas and domestically. In addition, a review of the level of interest and concern of international consumers on various issues is produced relevant to the primary sector.

In established vineyards, node number retention at winter pruning is the first step to achieving and maintaining vine balance. Balanced vines exhibit timely and quasi-uniform 100 percent budburst. To understand how vine capacity and balance are expressed before flowering, mature Sauvignon blanc vines were pruned according to a 5 [total node numbers on canes: 10, 20, 30, 40, 50] x 3 [total node numbers on spurs: 1, 2, 3] factorial design in one site, and in two other sites according to a 5 [total node numbers on canes: 10, 20, 30, 40, 50] x 2 [total node numbers on spurs: 1, 2] factorial design. Two spurs of one, two or three nodes each were retained on either side of the vine. The number of canes laid down per vine was one, two, three and four canes each of 10 nodes for the 10-, 20-, 30-and 40-node treatments, and four canes averaging 12.5 nodes for the 50-node treatment. The budburst percentage was calculated on the whole vine, canes, and spurs. Blind nodes, count shoots, non-count shoots and double shoots were counted and mapped along canes and spurs. Many non-count shoots were measured on the vine head of 10-node vines (29.5 ± 3.0 shoots, p < 0.001), compared to 50-node vines (2.8 ± 1.9 shoots, p < 0.001). 50-node vines had an overall budburst of 100 %, despite having the highest number of blind nodes (7.6 ± 0.3 nodes, p < 0.001). These were mainly located at the canes’ proximal sections relative to the vine head and were likely caused by correlative inhibition and primary bud necrosis. Cane budburst provided a more accurate assessment of the vine response to node loading than vine budburst. The number of double shoots was not associated with the vine node load, as they appeared on both low-node and high-node vines. Three-node spurs developed more blind nodes than one-node and two-node spurs (p < 0.001). Based on the findings of this research, we recommend a composite metric (cane percent budburst, cane blind node count and head shoot count) to assess vine capacity and balance between budburst and flowering, and the practice of retaining one-or two-node spurs at cane pruning is also justified.

Environmental sustainability and economic challenges are requiring significant change in the agricultural sector, and this is driving an increased focus on farmer and farm business resilience. Participatory extension programmes (PEPs) are a well-known approach for supporting farmer change. The objective of this article is to explore how a PEP based on peer-to-peer learning can support farmers in increasing resilience. Our study examines the interaction of wellbeing, environmental change and profitability through the applications of an institutional logics evaluation framework. We interviewed 24 participants in a PEP based in Northland, New Zealand. Findings show that PEPs can provide a safe space to discuss wellbeing challenges and link farmers with networks to support them on their wellbeing journey. We found that farmer wellbeing is intrinsically linked to other pressures that farmers face around profitability and sustainability, and therefore PEPs need to balance these three pillars. This article adds to the current literature by expanding an institutional logics evaluation framework and identifying the role of different actors in change mechanisms.

Communities, scientists, policy-makers and industries are requiring farmers to address environmental and wellbeing challenges in their on-farm management, transitioning away from a productivity dominated focus towards a multi-faceted system focus that includes environmental and social values. This paper analyses how Miraka Ltd., an Aotearoa-New Zealand indigenous owned and operated milk company, has taken on the role of institutional entrepreneur to enable and support change towards a multi-faceted system amongst its supply farmers. Observations and interviews were carried out to: (i) identify farmers’ changes in practices, beliefs and values over the last ten years; and (ii) identify how Miraka functions as an indigenous entrepreneur in the agricultural sector. Findings show that interviewees were initially guided by business and family-oriented values, beliefs and practices, but in response to the institutional entrepreneurship by Miraka, approximately half of the interviewees changed these values, beliefs and practices, by internalising people and environmental values. The main strategies employed by Miraka were mobilisation of material resources such as incentives and awards, creation of a rationale addressing environmental and social concerns in the dairy sector, and proactive connection with new actors. The research shows an indigenous owned small-medium enterprise can make changes in values, beliefs and practices amongst its supply farmers, but requires a stronger shared base of values to contribute to a wider economic change. The discussion connects these fndings to wider literature on diverse economies and indigenous entrepreneurship to identify to what extent an indigenous small-medium enterprise can contribute to a system change.

Rural communities in low- and middle-income countries are vulnerable to malnutrition. They also tend to have strong social ties, exhibit high social connectedness, and lean on relatives, neighbors, and friends for support and information. Accordingly, focusing on the three macronutrients (proteins, fats, and carbohydrates) and three critical micronutrients (iron, zinc, and selenium), we analyze the effects of nutritional information acquired from relatives, neighbors, and friends on rural households’ nutrition intake. We utilize propensity score matching to analyze cross-sectional data collected from 915 rural households in China. Results show that acquiring nutritional information significantly improves households’ intake of fats, iron, and selenium but does not affect the intake of proteins, carbohydrates, and zinc. The disaggregated analysis reveals that the nutrition intake of females responds to nutritional information, but that of males does not. Also, large households’ nutrition intake increases in response to nutritional information, whereas that of small households is mostly unaffected. The results suggest that people assimilate new ideas to improve their dietary habits. However, by the same token, they may be susceptible to the deleterious effects of nutritional misinformation and fads. Policymakers, not-forprofit organizations, and industry stakeholders should disseminate evidence-based nutritional information to foster health and wellbeing in rural areas.

In recent years, Ghanaian agriculture has witnessed a surge in the use of agrochemicals, with the likely consequence that nonoptimal levels of application could cause environmental damage and economic losses. We identify the factors that affect the adoption of agrochemicals and the intensity of use in Ghanaian rice farming. We estimate the average treatment effects of chemical fertilizer and herbicide adoption using a Dose–Response Model (DRM). Our results show that a wide range of socioeconomic factors, including education, asset ownership, extension service, off-farm income, and land ownership affect adoption and use intensity of agrochemicals. On average, chemical fertilizer usage is associated with a 10% increase in the average treatment effect; low levels of chemical fertilizer have a negative impact on rice yield, and the result turns positive with more intensive use. Similarly, herbicide treatment generates a 7% increase in the average treatment effect, but higher herbicide levels will have negative causal effects on rice yield, and the result worsens with more herbicide treatment. Both agricultural technologies were designed to be used together, hence the appropriate mix of levels and intensity is crucial to achieve greater benefits. The DRM accounts for heterogeneity in the sample and is a useful tool to develop guidance on optimal levels of agrochemicals.

Mycoprotein is a fungal-based meat alternative sold in food retail in various countries around the world. The present study builds on a multi-national sample and uses partial least square structural equation modeling. The proposed conceptual model identified key factors that are driving and inhibiting consumer willingness to try, buy, and pay a price premium for mycoprotein. The results relate to the overall sample of 4088 respondents and to two subsample comparisons based on gender and meat consumption behavior. The results show that the biggest drivers of willingness to consume mycoprotein were healthiness, followed by nutritional benefits, safe to eat, and sustainability. Affordability and taste had mixed results. Willingness to consume mycoprotein was inhibited if nutritional importance was placed on meat and, to a lesser extent, if the taste, texture, and smell of meat were deemed important. Best practice recommendations address issues facing marketing managers in the food industry.

UV-B radiation and water availability can affect amino acids(AAs) concentration in berries, resulting in the evolution of aroma compounds during alcoholic fermentation. This study investigated the effects of UV-B exposure and water availability onwine aroma compounds in Pinot noir, focusing on the role of AAs in the process.Enhanced UV-B radiation significantly decreased total AA concentrations and most individual AAs inberries and wines, while water deficitincreased some individual AAsin wines. Higher alcohols, fatty acids, esters, monoterpenes, and C13-norisoprenoids were affected by UV-B interaction with water deficit in wines. These results suggested individual or combined UV-B exposure and water deficit had direct effects on fruit AAs, leading to significant differences in some wine aroma compounds

Worldwide, the agricultural sector is under pressure to demonstrate environmental sustainability. In New Zealand, farm environment plans (FEPs) and their auditing were intended to guide farmers towards sustainable practices by meeting regulations. However, on-farm audits can be time consuming, costly, and stressful for farmers. Meanwhile, the advancement of drone technology has made it possible to incorporate such tools in environmental audits. By means of field observation and in-depth interviews with both farmers and auditors, this research investigated the processes and perceptions of incorporating drones in environmental audits. The aerial views provided additional, high-quality information for the audit. However, flying a drone is subject to weather conditions.

Additionally, reductions in audit time were dependent on farm scale, topography, and the auditor’s knowledge of the farm and the farmer. Farmer-auditor relationships are critical for enabling the benefits of drone use within the FEP audit process. Such relationships require a high level of interaction-based trust between farmers and auditors. Further clarity around the use and ownership of drone images could enhance trust, enabling the benefits of drones in audits to be fully utilised, hence furthering the environmental management and compliance processes towards achieving their objectives of better environmental outcomes