Lincoln University Masters student Jemma Penelope is preparing to survey sheep farmers across all regions of NZ about their on-farm experiences and challenges as they strive for sustainability.
Penelope, currently undertaking her second Masters, is leading research projects that develop innovative solutions for the agri-food industry.
Having grown up and studied in Canterbury, Penelope then worked abroad in business management and conservation and environmental markets in several countries, including Australia, America and Canada, before realising a place for her back home.
“From that position (overseas) I could see an opportunity to make change in my home country NZ and if I wanted to have an impact the best way to do it was to come home,” Penelope said.
She says her Masters’ research is not about measuring sustainability, or how much sustainability is happening in NZ agricultural industries.
“Instead, this research is about NZ sheep farmers describing their on-the-ground experiences of how their industry is part of a transition towards sustainability,” she said.
“Agriculture and farming are NZ’s oldest and biggest industries, and you will likely have heard talk about how these parts of the NZ economy can help national and international sustainability goals.
“While there are NZ farms that are already very sustainable, many don’t have the information in hand to show how much they contribute to achieving overall industry or national goals for sustainability.
“We hear the word sustainability used in different ways and meanings.
“Other specialised words include sustainability transition, which is about the time it takes to move from non-sustainable activities to reaching sustainability.
“And bio-economy, where an economy is driven by biological resources, renewing themselves in nature in a short time.”
Penelope says the sheep industry has a lot of potential but currently it has a lot of challenges.
“As an industry playing an important part of the future, farmers need to know what the future holds for them and how to make the transition to get there,” she said.
“Talking to farmers, many are not aware of the different tools available to them and how their experience of this transition conversation will move the industry into its long-term vision to continue to be an integral and credible part of NZ’s economic future.”
The research survey asks NZ sheep farmers right across the country about their experiences and thoughts of being ready to collect and share information about the sustainability of their own farming business.
It includes questions about transition towards sustainability in the sheep farming industry as part of the significance of bioeconomic transitions – the next generation systems for agricultural land-use, making decisions by combining the disciplines of economics and biology modelling, factoring in natural resource management.
“Earlier questions have focused on understanding how sustainable bioeconomic transitions can occur,” she said.
“To advance past this it has now become necessary to instead focus on understanding what those transitions look like in practice.”
More specifically, it is about looking through a lens that can observe the current sustainability, linking the currently available tools in a multidisciplinary approach with what the bioeconomic transition pathway is.
“It’s about sheep farmers continuing to thrive and return values in a way that is not grabbing the environment,” she said.
“There are little pits to unlock so sheep farming can be all it can be for NZ.”
Penelope says her research with sheep farmers will flow on to other sectors of farming.
The survey is currently being trialled by a handful of sheep farmers and is expected to go live to all sheep farmers next month.
For more information and to take part in the survey, email Jemma.Penelope@lincolnuni.ac.nz
