Use made of transport by farmers: a pilot survey with findings relating to Ashburton county, New Zealand

Abstract

This paper reports on a survey into the use made of transport by New Zealand farmers. The survey has been carried out as a preliminary step in a research programme of the Agricultural Economics Research Unit aimed at investigating the potential for reducing off-farm costs incurred by farmers. There is no possibility of zero transport activity by farmers simply because farming is a spatially dispersed industry. However there are four broad ways in which transport costs can be reduced: a) Regulatory controls over competition in the transport industry can be adjusted by Government with the effect of altering transport costs. b) Changes in the transport industry's practices, organisation, technology and management methods. c) Changes in the relationship between transport operations and the systems used by producers, processors and marketers of primary commodities. d) Changes in the quality of transport services provided which can affect returns received by primary producers.