Moving the Middle: How to enable widespread voluntary change on-farm with Suzie Greenhalgh
RaboTalk – Growing our futureSummary
New Zealand farmers face increasing pressures from environmental regulations, compliance demands, and global market uncertainties, creating a challenging landscape for agricultural practices. The "Moving the Middle" program, led by resource economist Susie Greenhalgh, aims to empower farmers to voluntarily enhance their environmental performance. The initiative seeks to understand the systemic, behavioral, and practical barriers that hinder widespread adoption of sustainable practices among the majority of farmers, particularly those who are hesitant to change.
The program, initiated in early 2020, emphasizes the need for tailored approaches to support farmers, recognizing that a one-size-fits-all strategy is ineffective. Greenhalgh highlights the importance of understanding the diverse contexts of farmers and the various influences on their decision-making processes. The research identifies four key areas impacting farmers: policy interventions, investment practices, the role of change agents, and the narratives surrounding farming communities. By addressing these areas, the program aims to foster a supportive ecosystem that encourages farmers to take proactive steps towards sustainability.
Looking ahead, Greenhalgh envisions a future where farmers lead environmental change rather than being driven by policy mandates. She advocates for a deeper understanding of farmers' needs and the development of supportive measures that build confidence and agency among them. The program's findings underscore the necessity of involving a wide range of stakeholders, including industry groups and educational institutions, to create a collaborative environment that nurtures innovation and sustainable practices in agriculture.
Show Notes
In this episode of RaboTalk Growing our Future episode, host Blake Holgate speaks with Suzie Greenhalgh, Project Lead for the Moving the Middle programme, a research project aimed at giving farmers the confidence to voluntarily improve their environmental performance on farms. Suzie discusses the findings from this multi-partner research project, which launched in 2020, to understand how to support the large group of farmers in the middle, who sit between the early adopters and those resistant to change. By analysing the complex network of pressures surrounding farmers, Suzie explains how industry bodies and policy makers can adjust their approach to support farmers and growers who want to make positive change but often feel constrained by competing pressures. Suzie challenges farmers to identify one positive environmental action they would not regret doing even if compliance rules changed tomorrow. Like what you’ve heard? Follow our podcast for more great content.
Show Notes The Moving the Middle Concept The program aims to give the majority of farmers the confidence to voluntarily improve their environmental performance. Suzie explains that many producers want to make positive changes but feel disempowered by competing industry pressures. The research focuses on how to intervene in the surrounding system to give farmers the headspace needed to move forward.
A Systems Approach to Change Launched during high regulatory uncertainty in 2020, the program covers four deep pressure points identified by farmers: policy interventions, debt and investment practices, trusted agents of change, and community narratives. An overarching systems piece ensures researchers capture how these distinct areas intersect to impact daily decision making.
Moving Beyond Cookie-Cutter Extension New Zealand has a habit of over-relying on single extension models, like flooding the sector with demonstration field days when they become popular. Suzie emphasises that a practice that is simple for one farm system can be incredibly difficult for another. Extension must be tailored to a farmer’s specific context rather than assuming non-adoption is simply a lack of willingness.
Insights from Māori Agribusiness The research highlights that Māori agribusiness cannot be treated as a single block. By mapping the distinct stages of the journey from emerging to thriving, the program identifies the exact resources needed at different times. Collaborative work on 100-year farm plans demonstrated how long-term thinking completely shifts short-term operational decisions.
Shallow vs. Deep System Levers The sector naturally defaults to shallow system interventions, like tweaking an advisory tool, because they offer quick wins. However, transformational change happens deeper in the system. The program works with schools, next-generation change makers, and banks to develop deep levers, such as cheap loans for on-farm environmental trials.
Shifting from Policy to Farmer-Led Action Looking ahead, Suzie envisions a sector where environmental progress is driven entirely by farmers rather than policy. For this to happen, technology providers and researchers must ensure new innovations actually fit existing farm systems, rather than blaming producers when uptake is slow.
Final Advice: Make No-Regrets Decisions Suzie challenges farmers to step back from the daily operational noise and give themselves the luxury of long-term planning. To regain agency in an uncertain regulatory environment, producers should identify one positive environmental action that they would not regret doing even if compliance rules changed tomorrow. Starting with a single, secure choice is the best way to build lasting confidence.
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