Resilience Through Innovation: Push and pull factors of hill country farming change: the case study of hill country farming in Aotearoa New Zealand

In Aotearoa/New Zealand, more than half of sheep and beef farming occurs in hill country. To understand how beef and sheep farmers balance the tension of farming amidst multiple challenges and balance resilience, we conducted 53 interviews with hill country farmers. In this work, we consider factors that pull change and those that push change in these farming environments. Farmers discussed challenges posed by market pull agents, such as carbon farming, and push agents who through government influenced change, create expectations of behaviour change from farmers for the benefit of positive environmental outcomes. Farmers considered bearing the financial and non-financial costs within change, and to create change. Farmers also expressed second order challenges about attracting the next generation of hill country farming, including farm succession and farm employees.