4.2.1 Sustainability and Ethics 

Key Knowledge: social, economic and environmental sustainability and ethical considerations as related to agricultural and horticultural business practices 

Key Skill: evaluate agricultural and/or horticultural business practices by applying dimensions of sustainability and ethical considerations 

To target this specific Key Skill, you will need to move past simple definitions. You have to be able to look at a complex, real-world farm decision and weigh up the trade-offs where different aspects of sustainability conflict with each other.  The two case-studies below are examples of high-value exam-style questions and they have a suggested marking scheme with each one to help you practice breaking down these high-value questions.

Robotic Dairies - Do farmers have to spend money to make money? 

A multi-generational dairy farm in Gippsland is struggling with an acute shortage of skilled dairy labour. The current manual milking routine requires the whole family to work 14-hour days. This is leading to severe physical fatigue and is straining relationships in the family. To resolve this, the family is investigating the possibility of transitioning to an Automatic Milking System (AMS). The initial cost to install the robots is $450,000, which will mean that the business goes into substantial debt. However, the system allows cows to voluntarily walk into a booth to be milked 24 hours a day. This allows them to be milked as often as they need to suit their comfort level. (holding too much milk for too long before milking is very uncomfortable and can lead to mastitis) Theyalso get food rewards and access to automated back-scratching brushes. The robots automatically collect data on milk quality, somatic cell counts (mastitis tracking), and individual cow weight changes.

PRACTICE

Question 1 (6 Marks) 

Evaluate the proposed move to an Automatic Milking System (AMS) by analysing its impact across the social and economic dimensions of sustainability. In your response, determine whether the reduction in human labour justifies the financial risk of the capital debt.

Marking Scheme:

2 Marks: Clear analysis of social impacts (burnout reduction, labour flexibility, or animal choice).

2 Marks: Clear analysis of economic impacts (debt vs. long-term labour savings or the amount of data available for analysis).

2 Marks: Final evaluative judgment that directly weighs the social benefit against the financial risk.

Intensive farming and the chemical/biological debate

An intensive vegetable enterprise on the Mornington Peninsula produces high-value leafy greens. The region is experiencing an unseasonably warm, humid spring, creating optimal conditions for an outbreak of downy mildew (a devastating fungal pathogen). The manager has two options:
Option 1: Apply a synthetic, broad-spectrum preventative fungicide spray across the entire crop. This chemical is highly effective and cheap, but carries a strict 14-day withholding period (the crop cannot be harvested or sold for 14 days to ensure chemical residues break down). The chemical label explicitly warns that it is toxic to aquatic life if heavy rain causes surface runoff into waterways.

Option 2: Apply an organic bio-fungicide combined with a seaweed foliar spray. This option has no withholding period and is completely non-toxic to the soil microbiome and local waterways. However, it costs three times as much per hectare, requires three separate applications to achieve the same control, and may result in a 10% loss in total cosmetic yield (the leafy greens are safe to eat, but might not look good enough for people to want to buy them) if weather conditions worsen.

PRACTICE

Question 2 (6 Marks) 

Evaluate the two pest management options available to the vegetable enterprise. In your response, apply environmental sustainability principles and ethical considerations regarding land stewardship and downstream consumer safety. Recommend which option best preserves the business's overall sustainability footprint.

Marking Scheme:

2 Marks: Detailed contrast of environmental outcomes (water quality, runoff toxicity vs. ecological safety).

2 Marks: Application of ethical dimensions (e.g. responsibility for downstream land and waterways that aren't yours vs. reduced profit).

2 Marks: Clear recommendation that explicitly prioritises an aspect of sustainability, with logical reasoning.