Comparison of breed of dairy cow under grass-based spring milk production systems

End of project reportThe objective of this study was to investigate the potential differences among different dairy cow breeds across two feeding systems on milk production, udder health, milking characteristics, body weight, body condition score, hormone parameters, ovarian function, survival and overall reproductive efficiency. The breeds investigated included Holstein-Friesian (HF), Montbéliarde (MB), Normande (NM), Norwegian Red (NRF) and Holstein- Friesian × Montbéliarde (MBX) and Holstein- Friesian × Normande (NMX). Selection within the HF breed has, until recently, been predominantly for milk production with little or no direct selection for functional traits other than those correlated with superior type. The MB and the NM have been simultaneously selected for both milk and beef production in the past. The NRF were imported as calves and come from a more balanced total merit index incorporating production and cow functionality since the early 1970s. The dairy cow breeds were grouped into blocks of two within breed groups and randomized across two spring-calving grass-based feeding systems: low concentrate feeding system (LC) and high concentrate feeding system (HC). Those on LC feeding system were offered approximately 530 kg/cow over the total lactation, while those on HC feeding system were offered approximately 1030 kg/cow

In Recognition of Skill: The Growth of Qualification Payments, 1960-1980

The initial development of qualification payments was related to efforts by craft unions to overcome the decline in margins for skill. During the 1970s, the emphasis widened to include a campaign to use qualification payments to evade wage controls. As a result, some non-trades groups pressed successfully for qualification payments or their equivalents to restore lost relativity with tradesmen. Their successes, most notably at Tasman and Kinleith, worked against the initial craft union strategy of using such payments to restore skill margins

The struggle for power and control in the new corporations: the first year of industrial relations in the state-owned enterprises

The objective of this paper is to identify and discuss the Principal industrial relations issues that have emerged in the first year of operation of several of the new state-owned enterprises (SOEs). The paper does not cover all the SOEs, nor does it pretend to analyse all the industrial relations issues of the first year of their operation. It is based on research and interviews conducted with unions and management in 6 of the SOEs - Electricorp, Forestrycorp, Airwayscorp, NZ Post, Telecom and Postbank. Its focus is nat on a detailed analysis of the agreements negotiated in the new corporations, but rather upon the natzue of the relationships that have emerged there. The SOEs were established as a Policy decision to shift state trading enterprises away from the public service orientation inherent in their status as departments of state to a new emphasis upon commercial criteria. The issue I wish to address in this paper is the extent to which the character of industrial relations in the SOEs has reflected this shift in orientation

The Private Sector Bargaining Process and Registered Collective Agreements

Over the last 2 decades, New Zealand's private sector industrial relations system has fragmented into a system in which bargaining takes place at a number of levels with markedly differing procedures and criteria which lead to several different kinds of agreements. It is important that a satisfactory classification scheme be established for the variety of agreements now negotiated, since each category signifies something very different about the nature of the bargaining between unions and employers. If we leave to one side the vitally important area of unregistered agreements (which pose a different set of research problems), there is a general consensus that the classification system used for registered agreements is unsatisfactory

Research Reports

Index of research report

COMMENTARY: Myth and reality in industrial relations: moderates, militants and social contracts

Between May 4 and May 7, 1982, two Federation of Labour conferences were held. One conference took place in the nation's mass media; the other took place on the floor of the Wellington Town Hall. The differences between the two conferences were striking and instructive

FrAmework for Multi-Agency Environments (FAME) : Final Report of the Learning & Evaluation Strand

Framework for Multi-agency Environments (FAME) was one of the Local Government On-Line funded National Projects sponsored by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM). Within FAME there were six local projects (known as strands) led by English local authorities in partnership with service providers. Each strand aimed to improve a particular set of services (for example, to vulnerable older people or disabled children) through effective and appropriate exchange of information. These local projects worked with IT suppliers (known as technology partners) to produce a technical system to facilitate the exchange and management of client / patient information across agency boundaries. Not all the outputs of FAME were in the form of IT systems. Improvements to business processes and information sharing practices were also expected. Newcastle University led two further strands, the Generic Framework and Learning & Evaluation. The Generic Framework identifies and describes nine building blocks that are essential to effective multi-agency working. The FAME website http://www.fame-uk.org contains details of these building blocks, together with a ‘how to’ guide and a toolkit to support local authorities and their partners in assessing their ‘readiness’ for multi-agency working. This is the report of the Learning & Evaluation strand. The Learning & Evaluation team worked closely with the local FAME project teams, who were supportive of our work and generous with their time. Throughout the project we reported back to the local teams both individually and collectively. Evaluation was thoroughgoing and critical, not an exercise in public relations or advocacy. It is important to stress that learning is likely to be gained from what did not work as well as from what did. Problems and setbacks, as well as successes, are therefore documented and analysed in the report

Industrial Relations Research in New Zealand: the State of a Discipline

Industrial relations in New Zealand is a vital and active discipline. It compares more than favourably with similar disciplines in research output - indeed I would suggest it out performs most comparable disciplines - and the last decade or so has been an exciting time to be researching industrial relations

The unintended consequences of the arbitration system

Eight years ago Jim Holt, Erik Olssen and the two authors of this paper met together over a long and relaxed dinner. Jim was in Christchurch to work on the McCullough diaries as it turned out, an important source in writing. Compulsory arbitration in New Zealand. Erik Oissen was doing parallel work on the Red Feds. Pat Walsh, as an analyst of industrial relations had a direct interest in labour history while Geoff Fougere's interest lay more generally in New Zealand political economy. At different times all four of us had been graduate students in the United States. The mix of shared and differing interests made for a pleasurable evening. Talk ranged widely over issues in New Zealand society, relationships between social science and history and the peculiarities of New Zealand academic life. In its own way, this paper is a continuation of that conversation

Preface

This is the sixth conference on Labour, Employment and Work, a decade after the first conference was held in May 1984. The idea thoughout this period has been to help promote communication among New Zealand scholars in what is still the country's major concern - getting New Zealand back to work