The benefits of Hill Country Futures

animated image of hill country farming

Outcome benefits for farmers

The Hill Country Futures (HCF) Partnership Programme delivered a wide range of practical benefits for New Zealand’s sheep and beef farmers, focused on building resilience across farm systems and communities. 

Resilient Farmers 

  • Wellbeing and decision-making support: The development of FarmSalus provided a structured tool for farmers and rural professionals to assess and support wellbeing, farm business health, environmental care, and social connections.
  • Farmer perspective series: Insights from over 300 farmers shaped resources that reflect real-world challenges and aspirations, including succession planning, regenerative agriculture, and environmental action.
  • Championing farmer stories: 37 media articles showcased farmers improving their land, livestock, and communities—helping build public understanding and sector pride. 

Resilient Forages  

  • Improved forage selection: Field trials and modelling supported better decisions on pasture species, including lucerne, clovers, plantain, and chicory, tailored to diverse hill country conditions.
  • Lucerne benefits: Lucerne systems demonstrated significant productivity gains, including higher lamb growth rates, increased liveweight weaned, and improved drought resilience.
  • AgYields database: Farmers now have access to a national forage database showing what crops grow best in their region, supporting more confident investment in pasture improvement.
  • Exploring native shrubs: Pilot trials showed potential for native species like Coprosma to serve as alternative forage, offering biodiversity and erosion control benefits. 

Knowledge and tools 

  • Over 100 published resources, 130 extension activities, and 68 peer-reviewed papers were produced.
  • Tools and models developed during the programme are freely available to help farmers make informed, resilient decisions. 

Explore the resources

An introduction to the Hill Country Futures Partnership programme and how it was developed to support Resilient Farmers and Resilient Forages for the future.

How the Hill Country Futures outputs will deliver substantial benefits to the sector