Fuel usage patterns in New Zealand agriculture

Abstract

This paper deals with aspects of current liquid fuel usage on farms in New Zealand. Machinery characteristics are discussed since they are an important determinant of fuel usage and fuel types. Fuel usage patterns by farm type are considered and a brief mention is made of factors affecting likely demands for liquid fuels in the future. When discussing fuel usage in agriculture, one of the difficulties relates to boundary definition. This paper deals mainly with fuels used by farmers but it should be appreciated that this accounts for only a part of fuel usage in the agricultural sector, and largely ignores the very high fuel demands for transporting goods such as fertilisers and livestock to and from farms.