The influence of the black and white tide: dairy farming, landscape and community change

Abstract

In Austen, a part of Canterbury in the South Island of New Zealand, pastoral and arable communities have been centrally important to the rural economy, community, and landscape for multiple generations. Recently, these multi-generational land uses have been replaced by intensive dairy farms. The change has been dramatic. Sheep flocks and arable crops have been replaced by luscious swathes of green pasture and herds of dairy cows. Dairy farmers and their employees have replaced farming families, many of whom have been in the community for multiple generations. It is against this background that this thesis has sought to understand the factors underpinning the transition to intensive dairy farming, and the influence of this transition on the rural landscape, its residents, and community institutions.

A qualitative research approach was used for collection of primary data. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with farmers, business and community leaders, and newcomers to Austen. Primary data were complemented by the collection of secondary academic literature and local government reports. These data were thematically coded, and sorted, to identify key categories, meanings, and ideas.

In Austen, land use change has been driven by the availability and reliability of irrigation water, and introduction of more efficient methods of water application. The defining moment of change occurred in the late 1970s, when land was first purchased for conversion to dairy farming by career dairy farmers. Established land owners would remain committed to traditional land uses until the late 1990s. Consistent declines in pastoral commodity prices when compared to the continued prosperity of the dairy industry, and introduction of automated irrigation devices, enforced the decision to convert to dairy farming. It is since 2000, that the number of dairy cows has increased by 884 per cent, the total number of dairy herds has tripled, and an ever increasing number of farmers have converted to dairy farming.

Conversion to dairy farming and introduction of automated irrigation, have contributed to a significant modification of the rural landscape. Once marked by abundant trees and hedges on paddock boundaries, these landscapes are now notable for their lack of trees and hedges. Production is paramount and shelter vegetation impedes this. The mode of dairy farming that prevails in Austen is an example of the continued commitment of farmers to productivism.

Austen’s community has been influenced by the introduction of dairy farming. New conflicts and arrangements have emerged, only identified in a limited way in existing social research. These new conflicts are based around the migratory nature of dairy farm employees and new modes of operation associated with dairy farming. Community relations and rural schools are influenced by these conflicts. Without irrigation, it is doubtful whether any of these changes would have occurred.