Technologically New Zealand farmers are probably among the best in the world, but how good are their managerial skills?
"To be honest, we don't really know as benchmark information doesn't exist," says Dr Peter Nuthall, Associate Professor of Farm Management at Lincoln University.
"We can make lots of guesses and assumptions and there's plenty of anecdotal evidence to suggest that they're pretty good, but the fact is no concrete research exists to give us the true picture."
Dr Nuthall, who has spent over 30 years in Farm Management research and teaching and has produced innumerable survey-based research reports covering all sorts of farm management matters, has now embarked on a project he describes as a quest for the "missing link".
"It's essentially an aptitude survey aimed at farmers with the focus on 'management skills' rather than technology as the important component," he says.
"We want to investigate, for example, the 'locus of control' - what sort of control farmers believe they have over their operations."
"We know that some farmers say confidently that they are always 'in control', while others say that there are always many things 'beyond their control' that affect them, such as the weather, overseas market prices, domestic financial policy and so on."
"The aim of this survey is to get some benchmark data so that in our farm management teaching in New Zealand we can pick up on particular areas of need and work towards achieving improvements. We also need to measure the change that skill courses might instigate."
"With accurate research data we can adjust our teaching to develop systems that, over time, will bring about improvements in management skills."
It is the first time in New Zealand that an aptitude survey of this type has been done and the only other comparable one worldwide is a Scottish study that revealed that farmers (in the sample) had a higher IQ than the general population!
Dr Nuthall was in Scotland at the University of Edinburgh and studied the methods they used. He was also able to compare notes with the researchers. The Scottish team had a broad base and included management, statistical and psychology experts.
The Lincoln University survey, being conducted by post, involves a random sample of 2400 potential respondents spread throughout the country, covering the main types of farming operation and a representative range of property sizes.
The first results are expected later in the year and the data will be the published in a research report produced by Lincoln University's Farm Management Group.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
Ian Collins, Journalist
Lincoln University, Canterbury
Tel: 64 3 325 2811 ext 8549
Email: Ian Collins
Dr Peter Nuthall, Agriculture & Life Sciences Division
Lincoln University, Canterbury
Tel: 64 3 325 2811 ext 8334
Email: Peter Nuthall