Letting Go of ‘Conventionalisation’: Family Labour on N ew Z ealand Organic Dairy Farms

In contrast to arguments about the conventionalisation of organic agriculture, this study of organic dairy labour relations in N ew Z ealand finds that many organic producers have reverted to a heavy reliance on family labour even while conventional N ew Z ealand dairy farms are increasingly dependent on paid non‐family and immigrant labour. I argue that a return to classic rural sociological literature on the persistence of family farming and the agrarian question explains this seeming anomaly, and that the narrative of conventionalisation oversimplifies the complexity of labour relations specifically and organic agricultural production more broadly. Labour relations in both conventional and organic agriculture are complex and contradictory, further demonstrating the importance of specificity and historicity in analysis of the organic agrifood system.