A history of grape production and winemaking in Canterbury, New Zealand 1840-2002

Grapes were first planted in Canterbury in 1840, but commercial production only began in 1978. This research paper examines the history of grape and wine production in Canterbury. It considers the different factors constraining the commercial development of wine production initially and reviews the key actors and processes influencing developments since then. The role of Lincoln College, later University, is shown to be pivotal to the development of grape growing and wine making in Canterbury and the cooler parts of New Zealand. While Canterbury has only a small part of the overall New Zealand vineyard area, its contribution, through Lincoln, to research, publication, education and development of the New Zealand Wine Industry has been considerable. Canterbury is currently enjoying a period of rapid vineyard development. This research report provides much of the historical detail underlying the first three chapters of Canterbury Grapes and Wines 1840-2002 by Danny Schuster, David Jackson and Rupert Tipples (2002, Shoal Bay Press: Christchurch). It is the working document of an industry historian and first hand observer of the developments since 1977. As such, it is not a polished final publication manuscript of the form which appears in the book, but very much the working document, with all the limitations implied

A Solutions to 'Too Few' Working Down on the Farm - The Human Capability in Agriculture and Horticulture Initiative

This paper des cribes and analyses how a labour and skills shortage in agriculture (used in the generic and inclusive sense) emerged here in New Zealand towards the end of the twentieth century and how it has been responded to by the industry and government. It delineates a collaborative response to a type of problem affecting many sectors of the New Zealand economy at the present time. A serendipitous conjunction of improved industry economics, productive policy provision, and ministerial and industry will facilitated the creation of a new pan primary industry organisation with the somewhat unwieldy title Human Capability in Agriculture and Horticulture. A picture of what happened has been built up using a range of methodologies (historical- both documentary and oral; case studies; participant observation: and action research) to explain what led to its formation and sub sequent progress. Prospects for the future are reviewed with a view to isolating critical features which may be of benefit to other industries experiencing similar labour and skills shortages

A Solutions to 'Too Few' Working Down on the Farm - The Human Capability in Agriculture and Horticulture Initiative

This paper des cribes and analyses how a labour and skills shortage in agriculture (used in the generic and inclusive sense) emerged here in New Zealand towards the end of the twentieth century and how it has been responded to by the industry and government. It delineates a collaborative response to a type of problem affecting many sectors of the New Zealand economy at the present time. A serendipitous conjunction of improved industry economics, productive policy provision, and ministerial and industry will facilitated the creation of a new pan primary industry organisation with the somewhat unwieldy title Human Capability in Agriculture and Horticulture. A picture of what happened has been built up using a range of methodologies (historical- both documentary and oral; case studies; participant observation: and action research) to explain what led to its formation and sub sequent progress. Prospects for the future are reviewed with a view to isolating critical features which may be of benefit to other industries experiencing similar labour and skills shortages

Dairying and Employment in the Amuri: 1983 to 2002

The dairy industry is currently experiencing a staff shortage, as are many other industries. It has experienced rapid expansion, and the situation is made worse by the poor image of the industry. This expansion has often occurred in areas with little prior dairying. The Amuri region, North Canterbury, is one such area. The conversion of farms to dairying began in I983, following the commissioning of the 17000-hectare Waiau Plains Irrigation Scheme in 1980. There are now 49 herds in the area. Some of the initial dairy farming experiences were very bad, giving all dairying in the region a poor reputation. The Amuri region is 'geographically isolated basin', and situated approximately 90 minutes from Christchurch, with limited social opportunities for the farm staff This resulted in extreme difficulties attracting and retaining good staff in the area. In response to this situation, the dairy farmers in the area formed the Amuri Dairy Employers Group, in March 2000. This group established a constitution including: Mandatory member employer training; Agreeing to an independent annual audit of member employment practices; and Agreeing to a Code of Practice for employment standards. I have undertaken a two-year investigation of the effects of the Amuri Dairy Employers Group, on dairy farming employment and the wider social effects in the Amuri area. A case-study approach has been used to gather the information. This research was conducted as part of a Masters of Commerce (Agriculture)

New Zealand agricultural employment relations, migration, and 'pledge washing': The new recipe for the 21st century

This Working Paper continues a series of articles published in Sociologia Ruralis in 1987, 1995, and 2007 reviewing the evolution of rural employment relations in New Zealand. It analyses research driven changes to public policy on the use of migrants to combat the ongoing labour shortages in New Zealand’s rural sector. There is a comparison contrasting the effects of these changes in the horticulture/viticulture sector and in the dairy farming sector. For the former a publicly acclaimed migration scheme resulted. For the latter an employer driven charter, which has been described as a ‘pledge wash’, was the outcome. Attention is drawn to the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 which it is argued may have far more significant effects on dairy farming than employers have appreciated. It concludes by revisiting four key questions posed back in 1995 looking at them again after a further twenty years

Dairying and Employment in the Amuri: 1983 to 2002

The dairy industry is currently experiencing a staff shortage, as are many other industries. It has experienced rapid expansion, and the situation is made worse by the poor image of the industry. This expansion has often occurred in areas with little prior dairying. The Amuri region, North Canterbury, is one such area. The conversion of farms to dairying began in I983, following the commissioning of the 17000-hectare Waiau Plains Irrigation Scheme in 1980. There are now 49 herds in the area. Some of the initial dairy farming experiences were very bad, giving all dairying in the region a poor reputation. The Amuri region is 'geographically isolated basin', and situated approximately 90 minutes from Christchurch, with limited social opportunities for the farm staff This resulted in extreme difficulties attracting and retaining good staff in the area. In response to this situation, the dairy farmers in the area formed the Amuri Dairy Employers Group, in March 2000. This group established a constitution including: Mandatory member employer training; Agreeing to an independent annual audit of member employment practices; and Agreeing to a Code of Practice for employment standards. I have undertaken a two-year investigation of the effects of the Amuri Dairy Employers Group, on dairy farming employment and the wider social effects in the Amuri area. A case-study approach has been used to gather the information. This research was conducted as part of a Masters of Commerce (Agriculture)

Future Dairy Farm Employment - An Application of the Human Capability Framework

Dairy InSight research project, no. 10015/2003 sought to establish the future employment needs of the industry from a study of the future dairy farm labour market; to estimate future labour required and available; and to provide a full discussion of factors affecting those estimates. The report on which this paper is based was intended to provide a foundation document for any future studies of work and employment in dairy farming. The research strategy adopted was to use the Human Capability Framework (HCF) to analyse the future dairy farm labour market. The use of the HCF to analyse the future dairy farm employment situation was implemented by a systematic consideration of each of the elements influencing the supply side (Capacity) of the dairy farm labour market, the demand side (Opportunity), and the bringing of those both together (Matching), comprising the three main components of the HCF. Statistical resources were reviewed and found distinctly wanting. Other documentary sources were considered, expert opinions canvassed, and key sites and parties visited, to facilitate the industry wide analysis. All components of the analysis, together with practical recommendations, were put together in a single report, which ·was submitted to Dairy InSight, the industry good funder for the dairy industry. They are summarised in this paper

Multiple novel prostate cancer susceptibility signals identified by fine-mapping of known risk loci among Europeans

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified numerous common prostate cancer (PrCa) susceptibility loci. We have fine-mapped 64 GWAS regions known at the conclusion of the iCOGS study using large-scale genotyping and imputation in 25 723 PrCa cases and 26 274 controls of European ancestry. We detected evidence for multiple independent signals at 16 regions, 12 of which contained additional newly identified significant associations. A single signal comprising a spectrum of correlated variation was observed at 39 regions; 35 of which are now described by a novel more significantly associated lead SNP, while the originally reported variant remained as the lead SNP only in 4 regions. We also confirmed two association signals in Europeans that had been previously reported only in East-Asian GWAS. Based on statistical evidence and linkage disequilibrium (LD) structure, we have curated and narrowed down the list of the most likely candidate causal variants for each region. Functional annotation using data from ENCODE filtered for PrCa cell lines and eQTL analysis demonstrated significant enrichment for overlap with bio-features within this set. By incorporating the novel risk variants identified here alongside the refined data for existing association signals, we estimate that these loci now explain ∼38.9% of the familial relative risk of PrCa, an 8.9% improvement over the previously reported GWAS tag SNPs. This suggests that a significant fraction of the heritability of PrCa may have been hidden during the discovery phase of GWAS, in particular due to the presence of multiple independent signals within the same regio

Cottesbrook's New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc wine to Tesco

Purpose – The purpose of this case study is to explore how a relatively economically insignificant business can gain and maintain access to a major supermarket chain on the other side of the globe in a world oversupplied with fine wines. Design/methodology/approach – Based on the approach to case studies recommended by Lyons (2005), this case study is built on semi‐structured interviews with key informants, previous experience, observations, documentary and web resources, combined in a process of triangulation to ensure reliability and content validity. Findings – The nature of the problems facing a small wine producer are described, followed by an account of how access to Tesco was achieved and maintained. Personnel with previous Tesco contact were found to be vital to gaining access. Providing exactly what the supermarket wanted, when it wanted it and with reliability to continue supply over time were found to be critical as was the role of the channel coordinator. Supplier/supermarket loyalty was able to survive opposition. Maintaining good relationships in the supply chain was supported at all levels by active participation of the supplier's principals, in all stages of the chain, both personally and in developing solutions to the supermarket's problems. Originality/value – The case study describes the first successful export of wine from New Zealand to Britain for sale in Bag‐in‐Box containers and how this is far more efficient in “food miles”

The demise of the farm labourer and the rise of the food technologist : a century of radical change in farm employment, 1900-1999

This paper reviews changes in farm employment over the 20th Century by viewing farm work as it was around 1900 and how it is appearing to be by 1999 through the eyes of contemporary observers. Then changes in work and employment are considered under the following headings: The Role of Government, the Labour Force, Production, Mechanisation, Pest Control, Transport, Communications, Marketing, Education, and Employment Relations. The paper concludes that while much farm work has increasing technological demands, at the same time much also retains its laborious nature