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The New Zealand economy is export-driven and heavily reliant on the productivity of the pastoral sector. The transformation of native forest and tussock grassland ecologies to temperate grasslands occurred rapidly with the arrival of Europeans. However, this transplanted ecology required the development and use of plant, microbial, animal and management technologies for successful grassland farming. These have enabled New Zealand pastoral agriculture to compete effectively in international markets, without subsidies. The extensive list of plant-based and associated microbial-based adaptations, and the management strategies that have enabled the development of highly productive grasslands are described and reviewed. Credible science is required to inform the debate on the environmental impacts of pasture production to avoid misinformation proliferating. This needs transparent and objective integrity from the science community using funding that seeks no defined or preconceived outcomes. Critically, much of the success of New Zealand pastoral farming has been due to the willingness and ability of farmers to use, adapt, adopt and integrate new ideas and technologies into their farming systems. Historic, current and future challenges, and threats that impact on the productivity and sustainability of pastoral agriculture are described and the means to achieve further technology development to manage these is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reviews and discusses the use of statistical concepts in a natural resources and life sciences journal on the basis of a census of the articles published in a recent issue of the "Agronomy Journal" and presents a flow chart and a graph that display the inter-relationships between the most commonly used statistical terms. It also discusses the use of contrasts between treatment means for testing ideas that the experimental work is designed to test, and points out that the use of a multiple comparison procedure is appropriate only when such ideas are absent or very vague. In the latter case, use of the unrestricted least significant difference procedure is recommended, with the proviso that it be used as an hypothesis generating method, not a method for simultaneous formulation and testing of hypotheses. (Contains 2 figures and 2 tables.)

Plantain (Plantago lanceolata L.) has recently been thrust into the limelight as a potential tool for mitigating nitrogen losses from the New Zealand pastoral environment. It is claimed to possess characteristics to reduce nitrogen leaching through both animal and soil-based mechanisms. This review examines the use of plantain in New Zealand pastures and the research that has led to these claims. The focus is on the evaluation of scientific evidence for the mechanisms through which plantain is proposed to reduce nitrate leaching, as well as the research on the implementation of plantain into pastoral farm systems. Plantain clearly increases the urination of grazing animals; a trait not unique to plantain. This review concludes that many research studies supporting the beneficial impact of plantain do not stand up against scientific scrutiny associated with methodology and interpretation of data. It is recommended more research should be undertaken on other pasture species and management tools, that may be more effective alternatives to plantain for nitrogen mitigation in pastures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Science ensures that explanations and predictions about the biological and physical worlds are verifiable, while also providing an approach that enables improved understanding to develop and be permanently recorded. There are several terms in common usage that describe the approaches used in scientific research, but at the extremes, words such as ‘reductionism’ and ‘holism’ are now frequently encountered. While singular reductionism can result in key relationships and linkages being missed, holism appears to ignore the need to identify how confounding factors can affect the quality of understanding derived from complex systems. Here we suggest that science is not a simple dichotomy of reductionism versus holism. Instead, it comprises a more fluid and complex mission. However, within multidisciplinary agricultural and horticultural science one regularly finds words like ‘systems’, ‘integration’, and ‘unifying’. Reductionist science is certainly part of the pursuit of holistic solutions to problems, not least in transdisciplinary research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]