Perceived importance of areas of future research: results from a survey of sheep farmers

New Zealand sheep farmers were surveyed and invited to rank the importance of research areas with a score of 1 being not important and 4 being very important. Mean scores (95% CI) were greatest for lamb survival, 3.47 (3.35-3.59), followed by soils/fertiliser, 3.43 (3.32-3.55); health/disease, 3.39 (3.28-3.51); live-weight gain in young stock, 3.39 (3.28-3.51); nutrition, 3.31 (3.20-3.43); reproduction, 3.25 (3.14-3.37); meat yield and quality, 3.23 (3.11-3.34); genetics and gene technologies, 2.96 (2.86-3.08); animal welfare/behaviour, 2.83 (2.73-2.94); forages/agronomy, 2.81 (2.71-2.92); environmental/sustainability, 2.79 (2.69-2.90); wool, 2.63 (2.53-2.73); and economic and systems modelling, 2.47 (2.37-2.57). Research areas directly associated with meat production and also soils/fertilisers were of a high perceived importance, presumably reflecting the contribution of meat to farm income in addition to the importance of soils and soil fertility in enabling pasture production and maintaining asset value.