Environmental degradation and consumer awareness are raising concerns about the sustainability of conventional farming while increasing interest in organic farming as an alternative food and fiber production. Well-replicated studies during the transition are necessary for testing the causes of observed changes. To test soil property changes following conversion, we collected data from 18 dairy farms (nine converting and nine that remained under conventional methods) in the Waikato, Taranaki, and Manawatu regions of New Zealand. Soil properties on the converting group were compared with matched farms that continued with conventional methods. Converting to organic did not result in increased total carbon or nitrogen, but phosphorus decreased by 42%. Bulk density decreased by 3.5% in converted farms but increased by 9.8% in conventional farms. Earthworm densities were higher in organic farms but there was no significant change in soil microbial parameters. Total nitrogen was lower where microbial respiration was higher but there was no evidence of a link between earthworms and soil nutrient levels. This observation challenges whether the observed changes in studies of farms that have already converted are indeed caused by organic farming methods themselves. Long-term studies are needed before the broader implications of conversion can be fully assessed.

Our review concludes that organic standards need to account for a broader set of criteria in order to retain claims to ‘sustainability’. Measurements of the ecological, economic and social outcomes from over 96 kiwifruit, sheep/beef and dairy farms in New Zealand between 2004 and 2012 by The Agricultural Research Group on Sustainability (ARGOS) project showed some enhanced ecosystem services from organic agriculture that will assist a “land-sharing” approach for sustainable land management. However, the efficiency of provisioning services is reduced in organic systems and this potentially undermines a “land-sparing” strategy to secure food security and ecosystem services. Other aspects of the farm operation that are not considered in the organic standards sometimes had just as much or even a greater effect on ecosystem services than restriction of chemical inputs and synthetic fertilisers. An organic farming version of the New Zealand Sustainability Dashboard will integrate organic standards and wider agricultural best practice into a broad and multidimensional sustainability assessment framework and package of learning tools. There is huge variation in performance of farms within a given farming system. Therefore improving ecosystem services depends as much on locally tuned learning and adjustments of farm practice on individual farms as on uptake of organic or Integrated Management farming system protocols.

Environmental monitoring is increasingly used to assess spatial and temporal trends in agricultural sustainability, and test the effectiveness of farm management policies. However, detecting changes in environmental variables is often technically and logistically challenging. To demonstrate how survey effort for environmental monitoring can be optimised, we applied the new statistical power analysis R package simr to pilot survey data. Specifically, we identified the amount of survey effort required to have an 80% chance of detecting specified trends (-1 to -4% pa) in 13 environmental variables on New Zealand kiwifruit orchards within an 11-year period. The variables assessed were related to soil status, agricultural pests (birds), or ecosystem composition (birds). Analyses were conducted on average values (for each orchard and year combination) to provide a consistent scale for comparison among variables. Survey frequency varied from annual (11 surveys) to every 5 years (3 surveys). Survey size was set at either 30, 60, 150 or 300 orchards. In broad terms, we show the power to detect a specified range of trends over an 11-year period in this sector is much higher for 'soil status' than for 'agricultural pest' or 'ecosystem composition'. Changes in one subset of native bird species (nectar-feeders) requiring a particularly high level of relative survey effort to detect with confidence. Monitoring soil status can thus be smaller and less frequent than those which also want to detect changes in agricultural pests or ecosystem composition (with the latter requiring the most effort) but will depend on the magnitude of changes that is meaningful to detect. This assessment thus allows kiwifruit industry in New Zealand to optimise survey design to the desired information, and provides a template for other industries to do likewise. Power analyses are now more accessible through the provision of the simr package, so deploying and integrating them into design and decision-making should be routine to reduce the risk of inefficiencies and opportunity costs. (C) 2016 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

1 Increasing the biodiversity of agro-ecosystems may benefit rare and native species, improve ecosystem services and increase grower incomes through higher value eco-verified orchard products. Previous research has shown that the taxonomic richness of invertebrates in organic kiwifruit orchards is significantly higher than in integrated pest management (IPM) orchards, suggesting that orchard management practices may affect invertebrate biodiversity.2 We used multiple regression models to investigate the relationships between the diversity of ground-active invertebrates in three functional groups [natural enemies, herbivores, detritivores (including fungivores)] and 14 management practices used on 10 organic and 10 IPM orchards.3 The significant relationships between the management variables and invertebrate communities differed for each functional group: (i) the greater diversity of natural enemy and detritivore taxa in organic orchards was significantly correlated with less toxic agrichemical sprays; (ii) greater amounts of vegetative ground cover in the organic orchards was significantly correlated with a greater diversity of detritivore and herbivore taxa; and (iii) differences in magnesium application rates explained some of the variation in the herbivore and detritivore communities.4 Management practices on IPM kiwifruit orchards could be altered to increase invertebrate biodiversity, which also may improve ecosystem services on these orchards; however, care should be taken to ensure that pest populations do not also benefit from these changes.

Sustainability indicators are well recognized for their potential to assess and monitor sustainable development of agricultural systems. A large number of indicators are proposed in various sustainability assessment frameworks, which raises concerns regarding the validity of approaches, usefulness and trust in such frameworks. Selecting indicators requires transparent and well-defined procedures to ensure the relevance and validity of sustainability assessments. The objective of this study, therefore, was to determine whether experts agree on which criteria are most important in the selection of indicators and indicator sets for robust sustainability assessments. Two groups of experts (Temperate Agriculture Research Network and New Zealand Sustainability Dashboard) were asked to rank the relative importance of eleven criteria for selecting individual indicators and of nine criteria for balancing a collective set of indicators. Both ranking surveys reveal a startling lack of consensus amongst experts about how best to measure agricultural sustainability and call for a radical rethink about how complementary approaches to sustainability assessments are used alongside each other to ensure a plurality of views and maximum collaboration and trust amongst stakeholders. To improve the transparency, relevance and robustness of sustainable assessments, the context of the sustainability assessment, including prioritizations of selection criteria for indicator selection, must be accounted for. A collaborative design process will enhance the acceptance of diverse values and prioritizations embedded in sustainability assessments. The process by which indicators and sustainability frameworks are established may be a much more important determinant of their success than the final shape of the assessment tools. Such an emphasis on process would make assessments more transparent, transformative and enduring.

This work was funded by the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology (Contract Number AGRB0301), with additional financial assistance from: ZESPRI International Ltd., Fonterra, a meat processing company, Merino New Zealand Inc., COKA (Certified Organic Kiwifruit Growers Association) and in-kind support from Te Rūnanga O Ngāi Tahu. Smaller projects have been funded by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry’s Sustainable Farming Fund and Meat and Wool NZ.

1. Organic farming is often promoted as a solution for counteracting the adverse impacts of agricultural intensification on biodiversity. However, it is unclear whether the biodiversity benefits derived from organic farming require an adoption of organic farming in its entirety (i.e. a systems-level approach) or whether the benefits derived are because of just a small subset of the associated management practices. 2. Using bird survey data collected from kiwifruit orchards in New Zealand, we assessed whether orchards managed under an organic system support higher bird densities than those under integrated management systems. To determine whether biodiversity gains might also be achieved on non-organic orchards, we tested whether variation among kiwifruit orchards in the amount of (non-crop) woody vegetation cover, density of shelterbelts and toxicity of pesticide applications are better predictors of bird densities than management systems. 3. Composite measures of breeding season densities of all native species and the subset of native insectivores were higher on organic orchards than integrated management orchards. Densities of introduced bird species were comparable among management systems. 4. Pesticide use and habitat composition variables were better predictors of native bird densities than management system, with native bird densities negatively associated with pesticide toxicity ranking and/or positively associated with woody vegetation cover. 5. Synthesis and applications. A complete conversion to an organic system may not be required to improve biodiversity in agroecosystems. Instead, the transfer of specific land management practices known to benefit biodiversity in organic systems has the potential to enhance biodiversity in other more intensively managed systems (e.g. integrated management). This may be a path towards attaining biodiversity benefits at a larger scale, because such changes may be more straightforward than conversion to an organic system.

Our project partners include New Zealand Wine, Zespri International, Forestry organisations, Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu and BioGro New Zealand, with linkages also with Dairy New Zealand, Beef + Lamb and Aquaculture New Zealand on the Governance Group.

To compare the effects of two different forms of sustainable agriculture on native taxa, this study assessed invertebrate communities in ten matched pairs of kiwifruit orchards managed under either organic or integrated pest management (IPM) systems in New Zealand. Three types of trap were used to collect as many different invertebrate taxa as possible in three trapping periods spread over the 2007/08 fruit growing season. A total of 602 taxa were identified in the samples. Significantly more taxa were collected from the organic orchards than the IPM orchards in all three periods. The invertebrate assemblages collected from the two orchard types were also significantly different in both January and March 2008. There was no significant difference in the proportions of native and endemic species collected from the two orchard types, although up to 40% of the identified species differed between the two management systems. Higher numbers of predators, parasitoids, herbivores, fungivores and omnivores in the organic orchards compared with those under IPM may indicate the presence of more resilient ecosystem services in these orchards. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The Agricultural Research Group on Sustainability (ARGOS), a transdisciplinary research programme funded by New Zealand's Public Good Science Fund and business organisations interested in primary production, aims to improve the resilience and sustainability of New Zealand agriculture by comparing organic, integrat ed and conventionally managed farms and orchards. Researchers from ARGOS write of the programme's context, research design and major results, but especially they share the highs and lows of their experiences of working in a team made up of researchers from farm management, economics, ecology and social science, in the process of beco ming transdisciplinary. These experiences are interpreted through the lens of Bourdieu's Theory of Practice to demonstrate how researchers respond to working in a field, transdisciplinarity, in which they do not know the 'rules of the game' and which, in fact, may not yet have rules. Despite frequently referring to the contestation th at occurs in this situation of challenges to identity and making meaning, this is a programme that through continuing negotiation has been adapted to move into its seventh year. As such those who are working or about to work in similar programmes can take heart. If they are having difficulties and disagreements - this is a 'normal' experie nce, to be expected and celebrated as part of a growing and creative process. It does not mean that the transdisciplinary research endeavour should be abandoned but that it requires structural support frameworks at both international and research institute level for a 'space' in which it can ha ppen more effectively.

This work was funded by the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology (Contract Number AGRB0301). ARGOS also acknowledges financial assistance from: ZESPRI Innovation Company, Fonterra, Merino New Zealand Inc., COKA (Certified Organic Kiwifruit Growers Association) and in-kind support from Te Runanga O Ngāi Tahu.

Agri-environmental indicators (AEIs) developed by the OECD have been used to assess the environmental performance of the agricultural sector in developed countries. The Agricultural Research Group on Sustainability (ARGOS) in New Zealand has investigated using these AEIs to assess the performance of individual kiwifruit orchards. ARGOS is following panels of orchards to investigate the impacts of organic and conventional management systems on economic, sociological, and environmental dimensions of farming. The environmental monitoring of these orchards has provided data for calculating AEIs. The paper discusses the performance of ARGOS orchards, the impact of management systems, and the implications for future research.

The ARGOS project is examining the effect of management practices on sustainability in several agricultural sectors in New Zealand. In kiwifruit, ARGOS has established 12 clusters of participating orchards where each cluster has an Organic 'Hayward' orchard, a KiwiGreen 'Hayward' orchard and a KiwiGreen 'Hort16A' orchard in close proximity. The 2004-2005 spray diaries for all growers were analysed, and small insects and mites present on leaves from each orchard in 11 clusters were surveyed in late summer 2005.Spray use varied both quantitatively and qualitatively with management system. The average total use of all pesticides, including plant management compounds, for Organic, KiwiGreen 'Hayward', and KiwiGreen 'Hort16A' orchards was 5.30, 7.62 and 9.33 applications per orchard respectively (p=0.001). With insecticides, the number of scale sprays used did not vary with management system, while more leafroller sprays were used in Organics than in either KiwiGreen cohort (p<0.05).Most leaves examined had insects or mites present, with mites the more common. More leaves were infested by insects in Organic orchards than in either KiwiGreen system (67% versus 39% and 47%, p<0.02), but mite infestations overall did not differ among management systems. Psoccids, or booklice, were the most common insect found, while armoured scales were the commonest pest. Significantly more scales occurred in Organic orchards (15.2 per 50 leaves) than in either KiwiGreen system (3.5 and 4.2 per 50 leaves, p=0.001). A range of mites was present, some abundantly. There were fewer predator mites on KiwiGreen 'Hayward' leaves than in either other cohort (p<0.02). Tydeid mites, detrital feeders, were equally abundant on either type of KiwiGreen orchard but were almost entirely absent from Organic orchards (p<0.001). The reverse applied for Czenspinksia mites, another detrital feeder, which were more abundant in Organic orchards than either KiwiGreen system (p=0.001).Production practices clearly influenced the arthropod fauna present. The low incidence of tydeid mites in Organic orchards probably reflects the use of oil for scale control in this system.

Introduction The Agriculture Research Group On Sustainability (ARGOS) is investigating the environmental, economic and social consequences of farming in NZ. As part of its programme, ARGOS is seeking costeffective and repeatable methods for tracking long-term changes to soils on farms and orchards. This is important because sustainable farming systems depend on maintaining or enhancing soil health. One potential tool is the bait-lamina test. This involves monitoring the rate at which artificial bait is removed from a plastic strip (“probe”) that is inserted into the soil. While this has been used overseas in forest ecosystems, agroecosystems and in the field of ecotoxicology, it has not been used to the same extent in New Zealand. This research note presents the results of a pilot trial carried out by ARGOS on kiwifruit orchards in the 2004/05 summer.