Nicola Shadbolt | Massey University (original) (raw)

Papers by Nicola Shadbolt

International journal of agricultural management, 2012

The purpose of this paper is to examine the financial performance of five pastoral dairy farming ... more The purpose of this paper is to examine the financial performance of five pastoral dairy farming systems through the use of financial ratio analysis in the form of the Du Pont model and to determine any differences in the drivers of financial success between systems. The differing level and allocation of resources, or organisational structure, that each farm system adopts was the basis for a test to determine superior competitive advantage. This test was on the premise that if a farm system has a competitive advantage it would exhibit above average performance. While the on-farm competitive strategy, cost leadership, is the same for all systems the organisational design and the resource configuration differ between farms. There are low-input farms which achieve low cost production through cost control (the numerator effect) and high-input farms which achieve it through improved outputs (the denominator effect). There has been significant debate in New Zealand as to which system is better with discussion focusing often on misleading metrics. The focus on competitive advantage and the rigour provided by the Du Pont model analysis enables a more balanced assessment of the benefits, or not, of intensification on New Zealand farms. The results highlight how misleading commonly used metrics can be. Despite differences in production and operating profit per hectare there is very little difference between return on assets and return on equity between the systems. Of particular interest is the consistency in operating profit margin between systems indicating no loss in operating efficiency as systems intensify. The only exception to this was the more intensive systems in 08/09 when input and output market price relativity was extremely unfavourable. Further research is required to determine if farms switch between systems as input and output market prices change and to explore those farms that are more resilient to such changes.

Octo be r 20 15 Copyright Copyright in this publication (including text , graphics, logos and ico... more Octo be r 20 15 Copyright Copyright in this publication (including text , graphics, logos and icons) is ow ned by or licensed to DairyNZ Incorporated. No person may in any form or by any means use, adapt, reproduce, store, distribute, print , display, perform, publish or create derivative w orks f rom any part of t his publication or commercialise any information, product s or services obt ained from any part of this publication w ithout the w ritten consent of DairyNZ Incorporated. Disclaimer This report w as prepared solely for DairyNZ Incorporated w ith funding from New Zealand dairy farmers through DairyNZ and the Ministry for Primary Industries under the Primary Grow th Partnership. The information cont ained w ithin this report should not be taken to represent the view s of DairyNZ or the Ministry for Primary Indust ries. While all reasonable endeavours have been made to ensure the accuracy of the investigations and the information cont ained in the report , OneFarm, Centre of Excellence in Farm Business Management expressly disclaims any and all liabilities contingent or otherw ise to any party other than DairyNZ Incorporat ed or DairyNZ Limited t hat may arise from t he use of the information.

Its major sources of funding have been annual grants [rOfn the Department ot Scientific and Indus... more Its major sources of funding have been annual grants [rOfn the Department ot Scientific and Industrial Research alld the College. These grants have been supplemented by others from commercial and other organisalions for specific research projects withjn New Zealand and overseas. The Unit has on hand a programme of research in the fields of agricultural economics and management, including production, markeiing and policy, resource economics, and the economics of location and transportation. The results of these resea.rch studies are published as Research Reports• as projects are completed. In addition, technical papers, discussion papers and reprints of papers published or delivered elsewhere are available on request. For list of previous publications see inside back cover. The Unit and the Department of Agricultural Economics and Marketing and the Department of Farrfl Management and Rural Valualion maintain a close working relationship in research and associated matters. The combined academic starr of the Departments is around 25. The Unit also sponsors periodic conferences and seminars on appropriate topics, sometimes in conjunction with other organisations.

The aims of the Unit are to assist by way of economic research those groups involved in the many ... more The aims of the Unit are to assist by way of economic research those groups involved in the many aspects ofN ew Zealand primary production and product processing, distribution and marketing. Major sources of funding have been annual grants from the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research and the College. However, a substantial proportion of the Unit's budget is derived from specific project research under contract to government departments, producer boards, farmer organisations and to commercial and industrial groups. The Unit is involved in a wide spectrum of agricultural economics and management research, with some concentration on production economics, natural resource economics, marketing, processing and transportation. The results of research projects are published as Research Reports or Discussion Papers. (For further information regarding the Unit's publications see the inside back cover). The Unit also sponsors periodic conferences and seminars on topics of regional and national interest, often in conjunction with other organisations. The AERU, the Department of Agricultural Economics and Marketing, and the Department of Farm Management and Rural Valuation maintain a close working relationship on research and associated matters. The Unit is situated on the 3rd floor of the Burns Wing at the College.

Proceedings of the New Zealand Grassland Association, 2003

Investing in f armland is fr aught with conf licting signals. While investing in land may gener a... more Investing in f armland is fr aught with conf licting signals. While investing in land may gener ally be profitable it is seldom, if ever, feasible on a cash f low basis. The non-depreciable nature of land and longterm capital gains are incompatible with the capital recovery terms sought by investors and lenders. The literature on this subject tends to focus on either the returns (profitability) or the cash flow (feasibility) but not on both simultaneousl y. Too fr equently rural professionals use the terms profitability and cashflow (liquidity) interchangeably. This paper presents a range of profitability measures and distinguishes between them and commonly used liquidity measures. The profitability measures include activity based costing which involves full economic costing and the entre preneur' s profit/loss is the difference between cost of production and market price. It is concluded that a number of measures are relevant to farm businesses but these should not be used in isolation. The critical importance of liquidity measures is reinforced but their use as profitability measures is criticised.

The International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, Feb 1, 2013

Journal of Dairy Science, Mar 1, 2015

Differing amounts of fresh forage and concentrates fed, and level of input contributes to the dif... more Differing amounts of fresh forage and concentrates fed, and level of input contributes to the differences reported in fatty acid (FA) composition of organic and conventionally produced cow milk. In many previous studies designed to investigate this phenomenon, comparisons were made between grazed organic cows and housed conventional cows. In the present study, we have investigated differences between organic and conventional milk produced using year-round pasture grazing, as practiced in New Zealand. The FA composition was determined in milk sampled at morning and evening milking in both spring and autumn. Samples were taken from 45 cows from the Massey University organic herd and compared with 50 cows from the corresponding conventional herd grazed and managed similarly at the same location. Forty-three out of 51 analyzed FA were influenced by season, whereas 28 were different between production systems. In addition, one-half were also different due to time of milking. Levels of linoleic acid and α-linolenic acid were higher in organic milk, whereas conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) and vaccenic acid were higher in conventional milk. The first 3 FA (linoleic acid, α-linolenic acid, and CLA) were more abundant in milk harvested during autumn, and the CLA concentration was also significantly influenced by time of milking. Our results confirm reports that the FA profile is affected by season and time of milking, and we also showed an effect due to the production system, when both sets of cows were kept continuously on pasture, even after taking milking time and seasonal effect into account.

Frontiers in sustainable food systems, Dec 2, 2022

Introduction: Improving milk productivity is essential for ensuring sustainable food production. ... more Introduction: Improving milk productivity is essential for ensuring sustainable food production. However, the increasing di culty of supervision and management, which is associated with farm size, is one of the major factors causing the inverse relationship between size and productivity. Digital technology, which has grown in popularity in recent years, can e ectively substitute for manual labor and significantly improve farmers' monitoring and management capacities, potentially addressing the inverse relationship. Methods: Based on data from a survey of farms in Shandong Province in , this paper employs a two-stage least squares regression model to estimate the impact of herd size on dairy cow productivity and investigate how the adoption of digital technology has altered the impact of herd size on dairy cow productivity. Results: According to the findings, there is a significant and negative impact of herd size on milk productivity for China's dairy farms. By accurately monitoring and identifying the time of estrus, coupled with timely insemination, digital technology can mitigate the negative impact of herd size on milk productivity per cow. Discussion: To increase dairy cow productivity in China, the government should promote both small-scale dairy farming and focus on enhancing management capacities of farm operators, as well as large-scale dairy farms and increase the adoption of digital technologies.

Journal of Advances in Agriculture, Sep 30, 2017

New Zealand dairy farmers face an increasingly turbulent business environment. To cope with a tur... more New Zealand dairy farmers face an increasingly turbulent business environment. To cope with a turbulent environment, they need to have resilient farming systems that have the capacity to better deal with volatility. The main purpose of this study was to develop an understanding of what resilience means for dairy farming and to determine how it might be measured. Resilience can be described as buffer capacity, adaptability and transformability with increasing degrees of change required with each. The research for this paper focused on buffer capacity, the ability of a farming system to "bounce without breaking", and carried out rigorous statistical analysis of the DairyBase® database to identify resilience surrogate measures. Of the three attributes of buffer capacity the PCA method identified that the dominant attribute was resistance (both technical and financial efficiency), the less dominant were precariousness (solvency) and latitude (liquidity) attributes. In conclusion, the farms that were able to demonstrate both short-term optimization and long-term adaptability were those that were neither low input nor high input pasture based farms. They had farming systems that were able to both respond to favourable and unfavourable conditions to improve or protect results respectively; they displayed the flexibility to bounce and not break.

Proceedings of the New Zealand Grassland Association, 2005

Journal of applied farm economics, Oct 31, 2017

for additional information. This is an Open Access journal. This means that it uses a funding mod... more for additional information. This is an Open Access journal. This means that it uses a funding model that does not charge readers or their institutions for access. Readers may freely read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of articles. This journal is covered under the CC BY-NC-ND license.

Proceedings of the New Zealand Grassland Association, 1997

Three levels of planning can be distinguished in grassland farming: strategic, tactical and opera... more Three levels of planning can be distinguished in grassland farming: strategic, tactical and operational. The purpose of strategic planning is to achieve a sustainable long-term fit of the farm business with its physical, social and financial environment. In pastoral farming, this essentially means developing plans that maximise and best match pasture growth with animal demand, while generating sufficient income to maintain or enhance farm resources and improvements, and attain personal and financial goals. Strategic plans relate to the whole farm business and are focused on the means to achieve future needs. They should be routinely (at least annually) reviewed and monitored for effectiveness through key performance indicators (e.g., Economic Farm Surplus) that enable progress toward goals to be measured in a timely and cost-effective manner. Failure to link strategy with control is likely to result in unfulfilled plans.

This paper presents a framework to explore agribusiness success in New Zealand. The framework pro... more This paper presents a framework to explore agribusiness success in New Zealand. The framework provides the basis for historical analysis. It draws on existing theory based on the structure-conduct-performance paradigm but expanded to take account of firm strategy and the analysis of value chains.