Category Archives: Innovation

Agronomy, Conference, Fertiliser, Innovation, Nutrients, Orchard, Plant Health, Projects, Research, Soil, Vegetables, Weeds

Introducing our Podcast

Leave a comment

Unable to gather for our popular annual conference in May, but not wanting to you to miss hearing new ideas about  sustainable production, we joined the virtual conference crowd.

We are pleased to present “LandWISE: Promoting Sustainable Crop Production” a podcast that will bring the insights of lead researchers, technologists, and farmers to listeners from all over the Ag and Hort industry. Each month has a theme with guests joining on the last Friday of the month as a discussion panel.

This month we’re presenting “Reducing Nitrogen Losses from Intensive Vegetable Cropping” starting with our first guest Jay Clarke, Director of Woodhaven Gardens.

Woodhaven was named the Regional Supreme Winner at the Horizons Ballance Farm Environment Awards in April 2020. We are looking forward to hearing how Jay and the Clarke family have transformed Woodhaven’s growing practices to achieve this outstanding recognition.

JUNE: Reducing Nitrogen Losses from Intensive Vegetable Cropping

 
Growers Making Changes (Jay Clarke – Woodhaven Gardens) Friday 5th June
On-Farm Trials with Growers (Luke Posthuma, LandWISE) Friday 5th June
A Grower-Friendly Nutrient Budget Template (Georgia O’Brien– LandWISE) Friday 12th June
Cover and Catch Cropping (Charles Merfield – BHU Future Farming Centre) Friday 19th June
LIVE PANEL DISCUSSION – send in your questions to info@landwise.org.nz Friday 26th June 1:00 pm
Listen to Podcasts online here >
Listen on Spotify >

On the last Friday of the month – look out for our live Panel Discussion where we bring together all of the guests from the show and ask them your questions.

Email us your questions to info@landwise.org.nz

Made possible by our conference sponsors:

Agronomy, AgTech, Conference, Drainage, events, Innovation, LandWISE People, Precision Agriculture, Projects, Research, Robotics, Soil, Tillage

Nutrient Budgeting made easy…

We’re pleased to announce the release of our Nutrient Budgeting Templates.  Designed to support vegetable growers to budget fertiliser use according to good management practice guidelines the A4 pdf templates rely on nutrient recommendations from Reid & Morton (2019). Crop yield predictions and soil fertility testing are used to determine the optimum rate of Nitrogen and Phosphorus to apply, based on the best trial data NZ has for 12 different vegetable crops.

The LandWISE Nutrient Budget Templates bring together this resource along with FAR’s Nitrate Quick Test Mass Balance tool which allows growers to enter soil nitrate levels using the Nitrate Quick Test. This test can provide growers with soil nitrate levels in less than an hour for about $1. FAR’s tool reliably converts nitrate concentrations (ppm) into kg N/ha.

Nutrient budgets are becoming a necessary process to document the movement of nutrients on and off-farm, and justify fertiliser applications. Nutrient budgets can be used to develop a fertiliser plan, where each paddock or management unit has a clear strategy to maintain, build or mine soil nutrient levels.

View or download the templates below:

Phosphorus Budget Template 02-20

Nitrogen Budget Template 02-20

The Nutrient Budget Templates have been developed as part of Future Proofing Vegetable Production, a three-year project funded by MPI’s Sustainable Farming Fund, Ballance, Horizons, Gisborne District Council, and Potatoes NZ.

We are keen to hear from those using the templates so please get in touch if you have any questions or feedback.

AgTech, events, Innovation, Research, Soil, Uncategorized

Biochar Field Day – 8th November, Manawatu

Leave a comment

On Friday the 8th of November all are welcome to attend a field day hosted by NZ Landcare Trust and Slow Farm Ltd about Biochar. The field day will include a demonstration of how Biochar is made, a presentation by Massey University on Biochar research, as well as a workshop to discuss the potential of Biochar in Manawatu.

The Field Day will be held at Tom Shannons farm in Aokautere, which is shown in the map below.

When: 10:30am – 2:00pm

Where: 1213 State Highway 57, Aokautere, 4471

Please RSVP by Wednesday 6th November to Alastair Cole, NZ Landcare Trust if you plan on attending.

 

Agronomy, AgTech, Automation, Data Analytics, Fertiliser, Innovation, Irrigation, LandWISE People, Membership, MicroFarm, New Crops, Nutrients, Orchard, Plant Health, Precision Agriculture, Projects, Research, Robotics, Sensing, Soil, Tillage, Vegetables, viticulture, Water, Weeds

Help Wanted

We’re not quite sure what to call the job: science manager, extensionist, project manager, consultant? We know it offers diverse activities and needs excellent communication skills and practical knowledge of horticulture and technology.

We are looking for someone to help identify and lead research projects and extension activities across a variety of issues and regions. For the right person, this is a role with considerable potential to grow.

This will be a Page Bloomer Associates appointment. They provide our science, management and support services while having addditional private consultancy activities.  Working closely together, we know they share our passion for sustainable land and water management.

Since the dawn of the new millennium we’ve been providing progressive, pragmatic and independent services through projects and consultancy. A key feature of our work is close collaboration with end users, researchers and developers. We talk about “linking thinking from the farm out”.

The role includes engaging with growers, industry and researchers to identify opportunities to review practices and integrate new technologies to create sustainable cropping systems. The appointee will develop and manage projects and support services that support economically and environmentally sustainable primary production.

If you know someone with passion for smarter farming who wants a key role in a small dedicated organisation, Page Bloomer Associates would like to chat with them!

More Info on TradeMe Jobs

Conference, Innovation, Irrigation, LandWISE People, New Crops, Tillage

LandWISE 2019: Best Practice Changes

Hugh Ritchie – Honorary Life Member

Drumpeel Farms has been run as a continuous mixed cropping farm since 1962 but had been cropped prior to that time. Key to the ongoing success of this farm has been a 5-year rotation utilizing legumes, cereals, seeds and stock.

During the 70’s a significant injection of lime was used to lift performance, irrigation was introduced in 2000 which provided resilience and opportunity for new and higher value options. This was closely followed by a move to reduced tillage eventually progressing to direct drilling and strip-tillage. These changes were driven consciously by a desire to make good business decisions but also there was an underlying understanding of importance of soil health and with limited water a need to be as efficient as possible with that water.

Good farm practice is an ever-evolving status. What was good in the 60’s is now modified and the 2000’s are completely different from today. Going forward,best practice will need to incorporate carbon zero thinking and (what will be even harder) meet public expectation even if that expectation does not reflect scientific findings, for example Roundup acceptance in the marketplace. Currently our business of good practice and reduced cultivation relies heavily on a chemical herbicide program.

Facing these new and emerging issues means a further refinement of good practice and even completely new enterprises to utilize our soils, climate and water resources with the aim of creating a sustainable business.

Drumpeel Farms is a family business Hugh runs in conjunction with Sharon and their four children. It is a mixed enterprise business with livestock, seeds and cereals and process vegetables as the main components.

They produce peas, beans, carrots, sweetcorn and some export squash, along with carrot and onion seed. The business is exploring the options for kiwifruit and apples as a way to increase value from the soils and water resources available to us.

As a grower Hugh has always contributed to industries in which he is involved. Currently a director of Hortnz and chair of the Foundation for Arable Research board, a member of Process Vegetables NZ and a director of Water Holdings, Central Hawke’s Bay, Hugh recently retired from the LANDWISE and Irrigation NZ boards.

Conference, Innovation, LandWISE People, viticulture

LandWISE 2019: The Vineyard of Tomorrow

John van der Linden  – LandWISE Board Member

Epitomising this years theme of “Rethinking Best Practice” John van der Linden from Villa Maria Estate discussed the “Future Vineyard”

Future Vineyard – Inverse Goblet

Often people’s future thinking is constrained by their past practises and experiences and so many ‘innovations’ are often only ‘improved ways of doing the same thing’. Two main considerations went into designing the vineyard of tomorrow:

  1. How to use land more effectively (more high quality grapes/ha)
  2. How to grow grapes more efficiently (eliminating, minimising, or combining operations)

Some solutions in this space that Villa Maria is trialling include:

  • “Trunk-Wrapping”: eliminates disbudding, or avoiding disbudding altogether and combining it with pruning.
  • “Sustainable Vineyard Floors”: eliminating or at least drastically reducing the numerous weed control and mowing passes by using different inter-row species and management techniques.
  • “Inverse Goblet” style vines: growing staked vines in an isometric pattern can provide advantages over current planting arrangements (parallel rows)

John van der Linden is a Viticulturist with Villa Maria Estate, NZ’s most awarded wine company. He has developed a wealth of viticultural experience and knowledge having grown up on a vineyard, owned and managed his own vineyards, studied and lectured in Viticulture and worked as a Viticulturist in Hawkes Bay and Marlborough for some major NZ wine companies.  One of John’s philosophies is that ‘there is always a better way’ and so innovation, sustainability and continuous improvement play a big part in his role.

John’s interests include family, rowing, cycling, swimming, guitar, Hi-Fi, technology, flying, design & architecture.