An evaluation of voluntary environmental schemes used by the dairy industry in Canterbury, New Zealand

Abstract

Internationally, there are increasing concerns regarding the environmental impacts associated with intensive dairy farming. However, few studies have determined the characteristics of these approaches in the agricultural industry, or their effectiveness. A comprehensive literature review was undertaken to determine what the desired attributes are or design features which are required to form an effective scheme. From this, the study examines voluntary dairy schemes adopted by the Canterbury dairy industry in New Zealand against the desired attributes of environmental schemes found in the literature. Eight environmental dairy schemes were reviewed against six key design categories of an effective scheme that were identified. The study strived to assess the consistency of voluntary schemes design through focusing on scheme’s inclusion of particular attributes in their design. This was achieved by using content analysis, utilising NVivo 10 software and evaluating the schemes in terms of their 1) environmental focus, 2) goals and objectives, 3) measurement mechanisms 4) incentives and benefits provided and 5) involvement and communication with other parties. The main findings of the study were that there was a significant focus on nutrient management issues, lack of incentives and benefits provided and the wide use of third parties for monitoring. This study has the propensity to inform the policy makers on design of an effective voluntary scheme for the dairy industry. The results of this study identified ways in which New Zealand dairy farming voluntary schemes can be improved toward increased sustainability within the New Zealand dairy industry.