Although improvement of on-farm milk quality (OFMQ) is a goal of the New Zealand dairy industry, no New Zealand research has attempted to elicit the multiple perceptions of industry stakeholders about the pursuit of change. Accordingly, this thesis sets out to establish these perceptions. Events and ideas that contributed to OFMQ perceptions are investigated, and perceived barriers and constraints for further improvements as identified by stakeholder groups are presented.
Information was drawn from both in-depth interviews and secondary sources. Checkland’s Soft Systems methodology (SSM) was used as an epistemology for eliciting the research questions that generated the data for this thesis, and Kurt Lewin’s Force Field model was used to present the results. The data were analysed and presented as a combination of rich pictures and dialogue.
There have been changes over the 1992 -2012 period as to how milk quality is defined by the marketplace. Dimensions such as sustainability and ethics are now important as well as physical attributes encompassing chemical and biological qualities. Both regulatory and achieved standards for food safety and quality have increased.
It was evident that there are major differences both between and within stakeholder groups as to needs, drivers and constraints for further improvement. These differences ranged from the perceptions within the marketplace regarding milk quality measures, the motivation to reduce on-farm somatic cells, and the perceptions surrounding relationships both within and beyond the farm-gate.
The key conclusion is that the NZ dairy industry requires more engagement with the complex perceived realties of OFMQ amongst the various stakeholders. This requires a collaborative approach, and better recognition of target-audience diversity. Given the diversity of perceptions within the industry, SSM provides a suitable framework for system analysis and improvement of OFMQ
