Feed grain consumption in New Zealand

Abstract

Traditionally, the New Zealand Economy relies on the production of livestock and livestock products for export. Production is based on the grazing of pastures and specialised feed crops in situ.

In recent years, there appears to have been a marginal moving towards more intensive production systems in which food grains – cereals and maize – are playing a more important role. This thesis seeks to investigate present and projected use of grains and grain products in the major sectors of livestock production. Additionally, linear programming is developed as a basis for a normative study of regional production and distribution. It is hoped that the analysis of the model’s output will provide useful guidelines for future development in grain production, consistent with an objective of least cost to the primary sector in terms of crop production and transport between regions.