What New Zealand dairy farmers desire from the Government

Abstract

Discusses the recent trend in the dairy industry towards conglomeration, focusing on the implications for the New Zealand dairy export industry. Describes how a proposed merger of the New Zealand dairy group and Kiwi cooperative dairies (both producer cooperatives) and the Dairy Board (which handled all overseas marketing of New Zealand dairy products) was rejected by the Commerce Commission and discusses the subsequent intervention by the Government in favor of the merger and the formation of a new company, provisionally termed “GlobalCo”. Investigates what dairy farmers desire from the New Zealand Government in the form of legislation and regulation, proposing the following research questions: what are dairy farmers’ perceptions of the dairy merger; how do government regulations affect dairy farmers’ operations; and what are dairy farmers perceptions of government assistance in the industry? Using a holistic‐inductive qualitative study with a sample collected through various contacts in the dairy industry, including farms from the lower half of North Island and all of the South Island, presents findings and outlines implications concerning the government and management at GlobalCo.