Category Archives: Agronomy

Agronomy, AgTech, Automation, Conference, Controlled Traffic Systems, Cover crops, Drainage, Fertiliser, Innovation, Irrigation, Membership, MicroFarm, New Crops, Nutrients, Orchard, Plant Health, Precision Agriculture, Research, Soil, Uncategorized, Vegetables, Water, Weeds

Less $$ than a flat white a fortnight

A message to our members and friends

LandWISE runs on a voluntary membership basis with an annual subscription of just $100 for the current year. Subscriptions are now due and our Financial Members will be getting their invoices sent out shortly.

If you are already one of our Financial Members, Thank You! Can you please help us again by recommending us to a friend?

We haven’t changed our subs for years, but are starting to review that. What would be best, is if more of our followers chose to join!

Not a Member? JOIN HERE!

If you’re getting and valuing our newsletters, downloading and listening to our podcasts, accessing the resources on our website or the FertSpread tools etc. please think about giving us a hand.  It really will only cost you about half a cup of coffee a week, but it will make a big difference to us.

How does LandWISE fund its activities?

Our overheads are kept rock-bottom. The MicroFarm, our offices and equipment are provided as an in-kind service by Page Bloomer Associates. Our Board is voluntary, and we meet mostly by email and video conferencing. But we do need to pay accountants and insurance and run websites and the other things every organisation has to do.

Our major activities are funded on a project by project basis. That means we need a lot of support from co-funders so we can access (hopefully) various reasearch and extension grants such as MPI’s Sustainable Food and Fibre Futures fund (SFFF). Our Conference too (as podcasts in 2020!) also relies on a number of loyal sponsors and the delegate fees we collect.

Merf explaining cover crops and catch crops at the LandWISE AGM
Merf explaining cover crops and catch crops at the LandWISE AGM

All these things cost a bundle. If we can get more members, we can increase the amount of work we can self-fund and provide more member services. 

Please consider becoming a Financial Member today. Click the link, fill it in and we’ll flick you an invoice.  (and we’ll cover the cost of our own coffees!)

Agronomy, AgTech, Innovation, Projects, Research, Robotics, Weeds

Novel Technologies for Non-Herbicide Weed Control

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In this podcast LandWISE Manager, Dan Bloomer discusses non-herbicide weed management, some alternative technologies and the amount of energy they may require.

The amount of energy required ranges for some hectares of weeding per litre of diesel, to over 1,000 litres of diesel per hectare. Dan’s current focus is using very targeted, very high voltage but low energy techiques to effect control of ryegrass in cereal crops.

The work reported is part of an MBIE AgResearch project “Managing Herbicide Resistant Weeds”, with Dan’s role being assessing non-chemical techologies including hot water/hot foam, compressed-air abrasion and electric weeding.

Link to the podcast page here>

This podcast was made possible by our sponsors

 

Agronomy, AgTech, Conference, Data Analytics, Innovation, LandWISE People, Projects, Research, Weeds

Anticipating Herbicide Resistance

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Distinguished Professor Philip Hulme is a leading international invasion biologist in the Bio-Protection Research Centre, Lincoln University, New Zealand. His primary research focus is predicting the risks arising from plant invasions. 

A scientist working on the MBIE funded AgResearch project “Managing Herbicide Resistance”, Philip joins Georgia to discuss the research he and colleagues are doing into non-herbicide weed control. Podcast here>

Philip’s recent work includes examining the traits that underpin the success of invasive species; clarifying the main routes by which these species are introduced to a region, quantifying the impacts of invasive species on these habitats and predicting the potential impact of climate change on invasive species distributions.

Philip and colleagues are applying a “big data” approach to the problem of herbicide resistant weeds (HRW) to improve our information and evidence-base to raise NZ economic productivity. 

Only now are sufficient data available globally on HRW for innovative analyses to quantify the future risks of HRW for NZ – through both unintentional introduction and in situ evolution of resistant genotypes. To date, all approaches worldwide to predict HRW risks have focused on individual weed species and have adopted a population genetic modelling approach to assess the conditions under which resistance may evolve. However, these approaches cannot predict potential risks of new HRW and are not appropriate for screening large numbers of HRW.

Philip’s group is using global datasets on HRW worldwide to establish prior probabilities of HRW risks. The research is structured along four sequential aims that will
a) Predict the assemblage of HRW worldwide that have a high probability of becoming established in NZ and distinguish both onshore and offshore risks
b) Assess the species characteristics that predispose a weed to become herbicide resistant and forecast new HRW threats to NZ
c) Characterise the climatic, agricultural and socioeconomic correlates of global HRW richness to identify the potential drivers of future HRW in NZ, and
d) Formulate and disseminate national and sector-specific strategies for avoidance of future HRW in NZ.

Many thanks Philip, and our virtual conference sponsors

Agronomy, Conference, Cover crops, Projects, Research, Weeds

Non-Herbicide Weed Control – New Options

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Trevor James and Katherine Tozer are scientists working on the MBIE funded AgResearch project “Managing Herbicide Resistance”, and join Georgia to discuss their two areas of research into non-herbicide weed control.
 

Interview Part 1: Trevor James

Trevor James is a senior scientist at AgResearch responsible for the “Managing Herbicide Resistance” project.

Aside from his role as manager of the many scientists working on the project he is  researching the potential for cover crops to control weeds in maize.

Interview Part 2: Katherine Tozer

Katherine Tozer, another senior scientist at AgResearch is working on tools and practices to improve non-chemical weed management. A key area of her research is pasture fallow, a practice where certain paddocks or parts of the farm are set aside to reduce weed establishment from overgrazing.

Podcast here>

The LandWISE Podcast Series is made possible by our sponsors:

Agronomy, Drainage, Innovation, Nutrients, Research, Soil, Vegetables, Water

Vegetated Buffer Strips – a podcast with Fernando Avendano

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In this podcast, Georgia talks with Fernando Avendano a Massey University PhD student from Chile, about “Vegetated Buffer Strips”.

Fernando has a background in edge of field treatments to reduce nutrient losses from cropping systems. He studied the use of vegetated buffer strips to prevent nitrogen losses from maize paddocks, and is now working on a range of N loss mitigation trials in the Horowhenua district of Manawatu.

Vegetated buffer strips can help to prevent nitrogen losses from farming land, thus protecting nearby water resources. The main aim of Fernando’s Chilean study was to assess narrow buffer strips (5 m) wide of different species effectiveness in removing nitrogen forms that flow from cultivated maize fields towards surface water bodies.

During the second year after establishment, variable N loads were estimated from nitrate-N (NO3-N) and ammonia-N (NH4-N) concentrations measured at 1 m depth during the study period. Fernandos’ trial had five treatments: a strip of grass, a strip of grass and a row of native shrubs (Fuchsia magellanica); a strip of grass, a row of shrubs and a row of native trees 1 (Luma chequen); a strip of grass, a row of shrubs and a row of native trees 2 (Drimys winteri); and  bare soil as control. The experiment was set in two cultivated maize (Zea mays) fields located in the commune of Pichidegua, Región de O’Higgins. In a clay loam, buffer strip outlet nitrogen measurements from subsurface lateral flow ranged from 10 to 105 kg N ha-1. All treatments were more effective in N removal than the bare soil control treatment and with the grass strip, row of shrubs, and row of native trees treatment performing the highest N removal.

Many thanks to our sponsors who supported the recording and publication of our podcast  series.

Agronomy, Cover crops, Fertiliser, Nutrients, Plant Health, Soil, Vegetables, viticulture, Water

The Role of Soil Microbes in Soil Plant Interactions

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Our latest podcast is now online. Phillip Schofield talks with Georgia about the role microbes play in soil plant interactions, the use of Visual Soil Assessment (VSA) and practical ways to improve soil health on-farm.

Phillip is a soil nutrition consultant based in Hawke’s Bay. He has a PhD in Plant Science from Massey University where he studied autotoxins, herbicide residues and pathogenic fungi in asparagus crops. He has many years’ experience in soil conservation, and nutrient management in the Hawke’s Bay area.

Our thanks to our loyal sponsors and to Radio Kidnappers for support with our podcast series.

Agronomy, AgTech, Conference, Innovation, Plant Health, Planting, Research, Soil

Harnessing the Power of Microbes

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This week we hear from Dr Johanna Steyaert, Trichoderma research scientist and molecular biologist and Max Purnell, Trichoderma practitioner and dairy farmer. Johanna and Max will talk about their work with Trichoderma a type of fungi that lives in symbiosis with plant roots, where they can increase nitrogen use efficiency and solubilise phosphate as well as protect against root diseases. 

Listen here>

 

“Spray-free” is an oft cited aspiration as the shift towards regenerative practices continues. An important part of such a strategy is the use of bioinoculants such as Trichoderma in place of traditional chemicals. However, it is not quite as simple as that. Beneficial microbes form part of a large interconnected web, a biological and chemical ‘superhighway’. Understanding those relationships is the foundation for understanding how to better optimise growth promotion and biocontrol.

Dr Johanna Steyaert is a senior scientist at Lincoln Agritech Ltd with 20 years’ experience working with Trichoderma bioinoculants used for disease control and growth promotion. Her research spans understanding the genetics of Trichoderma fungi to optimising production of biocontrol agents in collaboration with commercial partners. After completing her PhD, Johanna won a prestigious Marsden Fund grant from the New Zealand Royal Society. She led a highly original project studying the effect of the Earth’s electromagnetic field on fungal reproduction. Johanna has a strong interest in regenerative practices and the role Trichoderma play.

Max Purnell, was a member of the AGMARDT board for 10 years where his interest in soils and background in farming lead him to become interested in the work of Dr. Robert Hill who pioneered Trichoderma research in New Zealand. Max runs an 80 ha dairy farm in Thames, and takes a soils-first approach to farming. He has experimented with several strains of Trichoderma on the farm, and has supported research to collect Trichoderma fungi and observe their benefits to the farm system.

Thanks to our LandWISE Conference sponsors who continued their support by helping with the podcasts series after our May 2020 conference was Covid Cancelled.

Agronomy, AgTech, Fertiliser, Nutrients, Plant Health, Projects, Research, Soil, Vegetables

Future Proofing Vegetable Production: Milestone 9

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We continue to have solid engagement with our farming communities in Levin and Gisborne.  At this stage our project plan had us monitoring the effectiveness of a bioreactor to manage nitrogen leaving the field, but we have not been able to find a regular flow of nutrient rich water that we can treat. Further drain flow monitor through Levin has continued to show little nitrogen in the drains flowing past the cropping blocks so any nitrate losses are assumed to be via groundwater, possibly reappearing in the Arawahata Stream between the cropped areas and Lake Horowhenua.

We are working with growers to ensure that they are applying the correct rate of fertiliser in the right place so that they do not lose excess nutrients from the field.

As part of the suite of tools to help farmers, we have created LandWISE Nutrient Budget templates and updated the FertSpread web-calculator for broadcast spreader calibrations to include Fertplace for placement equipment such as planters and side-dressers.

The Nitrate Quick Test is a rapid measurement of available nitrate in the plants’ rootzone

The three main tools we are using in our work with growers are:

  • The LandWISE Nutrient Budget: used in the crop planning stage to ensure planned fertiliser practice follows industry good practice.
  • The Nitrate Quick Test soil test: used as an active management tool during the crop to check the fertiliser plan and to validate additional fertiliser applications where the grower expects that extra fertiliser is required on top of what was originally planned.
  • The calibration tools, FertSpread and FertPlace: used to ensure that the fertiliser application equipment is evenly applying the fertiliser at the target rate where it is required.

In the coming season we have started two large, replicated trials in Gisborne focusing on nitrogen application rates to tomato and sweetcorn crops. Late winter soil testing to 90cm has shown a large range of soil nitrate levels (60-257 kg N/ha) in paddocks across Gisborne. Planned nitrogen fertiliser applications across these blocks were the grower standard rate.

Further work we are completing is turning the LandWISE Nitrogen Budget template into an online app for growers to use. The aim is a mobile-friendly tool that growers can use in the field. By making the information available on the technology growers always have with them, they will be able to simply validate their planned fertiliser plan against industry good practice and make more informed fertiliser decisions.

For queries, contact us here

Many thanks to our project funders, and the growers and industry folk who are putting so much time and effort into being the best they can be.

 

Agronomy, AgTech, Conference, Cover crops, Planting, Precision Agriculture, Projects, Research, Tillage

Strip-Till and Cover Crops Panel Discussion

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The “Strip-Till and Cover Crops Panel” Panel Discussion was recorded in September following a series of earlier podcasts. Panellists included:

  • Hugh Ritchie (HB Farmer, Strip-tiller, LandWISE Honorary Member)
  • John Evans (Canterbury Farmer, Strip-tiller, LandWISE Chair)
  • Allister Holmes, (Technology R&D Manager, FAR)
  • Charles (Merf) Merfield (BHU, Independent Cover Crops and Tillage Researcher)

If you’re interested to hear the panel members’ individual podcasts, plus one from Simon Lochhead, Strip-till farmer in Canterbury, follow these links:

Down load the LandWISE Strip-Till guide here>

All Podcast Episodes here >

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Agronomy, events, Precision Agriculture, Soil, Tillage

Podcast – 20 Years of Strip-Till

Listen to the Podcast Episode >

Hugh Ritchie is a founding farmer and life member of LandWISE. Hugh farms on Drumpeel Station a 2000ha mixed arable, process vegetable and lamb fattening operation.

Hugh joins us to talk about his experiences with Strip-Tillage. A type of minimum tillage system which he brought over from the U.S in 2000, as part of LandWISE’s first project addressing wind erosion of soil in Central Hawke’s Bay.