Terry Kelly

Economic-environmental tradeoffs among alternative crop rotations

Abstract Simulated long-term impacts of different cropping systems are evaluated and analyzed in terms of the tradeoffs among net returns and different components of environmental quality. The cropping systems are modeled after the BARC Sustainable Agriculture Demonstration Farm. EPIC was used to obtain crop yields, soil erosion, and the environmental fate of nitrogen, phosphorous, and herbicides in response to weather and management practices over a simulated 30 year period. This procedure provides a way to estimate the environmental impact of cropping rotations, and to analyze the tradeoffs between competing objectives, whether they are farm income, erosion control, or the reduction of multiple hazards. The results indicate that the no-till rotation provides the greatest net returns, followed by the conventional rotation. The net returns on the two cover crop rotations are lowest. In terms of environmental impacts, no-till rotation dominates all other rotations with lowest nitrogen loss, and the covercrop rotations perform best in terms of erosion and phosphorous loss. However because herbicides are necessary to control weeds in no-till, the pesticide hazard index is very high, suggesting a tradeoff between pesticide hazard and other environmental considerations. To provide decision makers with better information, an environmental hazard index was constructed to analyze the tradeoffs between potential chemical contamination and net returns. Depending on preference structure, any one of three rotations could be preferred: no-till; manure at medium application rates; and cover crop without fertilizer.

An application of SSM in the on‐farm labour situation in the New Zealand dairy industry

The on-farm labour situation is a matter of concern to the New Zealand dairy industry. Structural and demographic changes in the industry have contributed to a situation in which employers are unable to attract or retain the number and type of employees they seek. Perceptions of the issue, the nature and extent of the problem, and the likely means to address it vary among the people involved. Although used to a limited extent in New Zealand, soft systems methodology (SSM) was developed to deal with complex problem situations that are ill structured and defined differently by people in the situation. SSM was used in the on-farm labour situation in the dairy industry to structure the problem situation and to provide a number of relevant systems models for an industry group to debate and learn about the situation. This paper reports on the process and outcomes of the inquiry to date. Copyright

Enhancing the utility of science: exploring the linkages between a science provider and their end-users in New Zealand

Increasingly, publicly funded research is being required to demonstrate its contribution to the public good. In response to this trend, a science provider of soil quality research in New Zealand initiated a research project that set out to identify and characterise its end-users in order to improve the utility of their research. The researchers recognised the complex nature of this problem and adopted an action research approach based on soft systems methodology (SSM). The research process entailed 4 action research cycles, allowing greater levels of problem redefinition and participant learning. The quality of linkages between the science provider and their end-users was found to be crucial for improving the utility of that science, and is determined by: (i) the nature of the personal relationships between them, (ii) how the information meets the needs of the end-users, (iii) the end-users’ perceptions of the science provider, and (iv) the culture and structure of the end-user organisations.

SSM-Guided Research to Improve the Linkages between a Science Provider and their End-Users

People make sense of the world differently, some are guided by systems thinking and some are not. This has implications for systemic practitioners and the way they interact with others who do not see the world as they do. This paper describes the evolution of a process of inquiry to date that has been explicitly influenced by systemic researchers. The authors attempt to make sense of their experiences and to highlight some important aspects of the inquiry process to date. Highlighted in particular, are the stages and manner in which the client was involved in the process, and how the way information from the rich-description was conveyed to the client influencing the way in which the problem situation was viewed and action defined by the client.