Category Archives: Agronomy

Agronomy, AgTech, Conference, Plant Health, Uncategorized, Vegetables, viticulture, Weeds

LandWISE 2019: Frank Forcella

Abrasive Weeding: A New Tool for Weed Management

Frank Forcella

Frank Forcella is Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Minnesota where his research involves ecology, modeling, and management of weeds in crops. Frank has special focus on weed dormancy, germination and emergence, early seedling growth and seed production.

We invited Frank to LandWISE 2019 because, as well as an impressive weed research history, he investigates and shows how conventional and modern weed management tools can turn theory into practice and he has a drive to transfer this technology to appropriate user groups.

Our new involvement in a major AgResearch led project “Managing Herbicide Resistant Weeds” includes assessing non-chemical methods of weed control. Frank and his colleagues and research students have considerable experience in these aspects, particularly in using air-blasted farm-sourced grits to abrade weeds.

A weed abrasion system developed for field scale application of abrasion for weed control (Frank Forcella image)

As well as presenting at the LandWISE conference, Frank will be an active participant in the Friday Special Technical Session “New Strategies to Manage Weeds”.

Agronomy, Plant Health, Precision Agriculture, Research, Soil, Vegetables, viticulture

Regenerative Agriculture – Research Programme to Explore New Pathways for Growers and Farmers

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Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research is leading a new research proposal called Regenerative Agriculture, and is looking for a variety of growers and farmers to participate.

The research proposal is seeking government funding to bring together cutting edge science and innovative farming practices that will deliver:

  • Greater profit for farmers and growers
  • Superior quality food and fibre
  • Reduced environmental impact
  • Resilience for farms, businesses, and families
  • Capability planning for extreme weather events

If you are a farmer or grower interested in being a part of this project, register your details here: https://goo.gl/forms/EPnTIgUfnNVA906o1

This research project will measure a large host of on-farm indicators of environmental, economic, and social sustainability. For the full list see: https://www.facebook.com/WhereToForNZagriculture

Environmental sustainability measurements will comprise soil and biodiversity values. Soils will be assessed by measures of: soil structural qualities, soil function, and soil toxicity. Biodiversity will be assessed by: earthworm counts, bird, insect, and aboveground plant species richness, abundance of root symbiotic fungi and much more…

Economic sustainability will be assessed through the farm profit metrics of plant DM per ha, and $ revenue/DM less input cost.

Production quality will be monitored in forages and crops through dry matter, total fat and protein content, vitamin C and E concentration, available carbohydrates, as well as heavy metal content. Aspects of food safety will also be included such as pesticide and herbicide residuals in forages and crops. Animal welfare measurements will be included in pastoral systems, via physiological oxidative stress of grazing animals.

Finally, wellbeing (a contributor to social sustainability) will be assessed via a multiple choice questionnaire for farmers to complete. For the full list of measurements to be included in this study, please go to: https://www.facebook.com/WhereToForNZagriculture/photos/rpp.419655358790231/419661105456323/?type=3&theater

These measurements will be free, and available to the farmer or grower as they are collected.

For organisations, businesses, scientists, or other non-farming individuals wanting to participate in the Regenerative Agriculture project, register your interest here: https://goo.gl/forms/2leCr8nbrrDbTESl2

For more information, please contact Gwen Grelet at GreletG@LandcareResearch.co.nz

Agronomy, Projects, Research, Weeds

Herbicide Resistance

Herbicide resistant weeds are a real and increasing issue globally and evident in New Zealand. Herbicide resistant ryegrass is for example, a problem in both arable farms and vineyards.

Atrazine resistant Amaranthus (Trevor James photo)

We are working with Trevor James and AgResearch in a project focused on improved weed control and vegetation management to minimise future herbicide resistance. The project is funded through the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) and major co-funder, the Foundation for Arable Research (FAR).

The project has four main work areas:

A Lincoln University team is seeking to identify the weeds most likely to develop herbicide resistance in new regions. Outputs will be a risk index that indicates weeds with a history of herbicide resistance, herbicide resistant weeds that pose the greatest risk if introduced and weeds that have a high likelihood of becoming resistant.

An AgResearch team seeks to identify and describe the drivers of on- and off-farm herbicide practices to more successfully address factors across the supply/value chain that increase the risk of herbicide resistance.

Grasslands and Massey University researchers will develop genotyping and seed bioassays to create ‘quick tests’ for resistance in key weed species. They will also model spread scenarios for resistance genes to determine the greatest risk of resistance i.e. from resistance developing on-site or from dispersal of resistant weeds. They are starting with perennial ryegrass before adding other species for screening.

We are in a team led by Trevor James looking to develop new non-herbicidal interventions (e.g. robotic weeders, abrasion technologies and smart cultivators) and the use of cover crops (in collaboration with FAR) for both managing existing and avoiding new instances of herbicide resistance.

Included in this section is ‘rediscovering’ Māori management practices such as traditional strategic resting and natural pathogenic organisms to target the soil weed seed bank. While virtually all our problem weeds are introduced from Europe and the Americas, the holistic approaches typical in Māoridom seem fully relevant to a systems based approach to weed management. A second group in this team is to isolate and evaluate natural pathogenic fungi and bacteria for their ability and efficacy to kill weed seeds.

LandWISE members are well-aware of the risks of herbicide resistance. It has been an aspect of LandWISE projects since the early 2000s when we began promoting strip tillage and no-till systems to maintain soil quality and reduce energy inputs. The extra pressure on herbicide controls when physical cultivation is reduced saw us publish charts of herbicide groups for different crops. Maybe it is time that work was brought up to date!

More information about this project is available on our project pages here>

Agronomy, AgTech, Nutrients, Projects, Research, Soil

Future Proofing Vegetable Production

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Future proofing vegetable production requires ongoing rapid change in farm practice to meet cost pressures and increasingly stringent demands from regulators and markets for enhanced environmental performance and water quality. 

It will not be easy but with support from the MPI Sustainable Farming Fund, industry and regional councils, we’re about to start the journey.

LandWISE is partnering with growers and our funders to develop and test new production and nitrogen mitigation techniques.  The project draws on and supplements recent and current research to develop new generation good management practices. 

We have four main areas of focus:

    1. precise nutrient prescription (how much is required)

    Test strip used to determine available N in a soil sample
  2. precise application (is it going where it is needed when it is needed)

    Ensuring the prescribed rate of fertiliser is applied
  3. maximising retention (ensuring leaching is minimised)
  4. recapturing nitrates that move beyond the root zone (constructed wetlands and wood-chip bioreactors)

    Installing a wood-chip bioreactor (Lincoln Agritech image)

We will draw on previous LandWISE work including  On-Farm Fertiliser Calibration, Arawhata Sediment and Drainage, and other projects including current research on quick tests for soil nitrate, fluxmeter monitoring of leaching and the use of wood-chip bioreactors to strip nitrate from drainage water.

The research side will be supported with considerable extension and training. We are aware that numerous computer based decision support tools have been developed, but we have identified that many growers need considerable support and upskilling to have the knowledge, skills and experience to effectively use them. 

To stay in touch about this project, subscribe to our newsletter for updates!

This project is funded by the Ministry of Primary Industries Sustainable Farming Fund, Horizons Regional Council, Gisborne District Council, Ballance AgriNutrients, Vegetable Growers and LandWISE.

               
    

Agronomy, AgTech, Automation, Conference, Drainage, events, Nutrients, Plant Health, Precision Agriculture, Robotics, Sensing

LandWISE 2018: Technologies for Timely Actions

In 2018, our sixteenth conference addresses the topic of “Technologies for Timely Actions”. We are delighted that LandWISE 2018 is officially part of Techweek, a festival amplifying New Zealand innovation that’s good for the world.

The intention behind Techweek is simple – New Zealand’s technology and innovation sectors are growing rapidly, and Techweek fosters that growth by providing a week-long opportunity for connection and cross-pollination.

Registration

Registrations for LandWISE 2018 are open and you can book your place via the Techweek link. LandWISE members can also contact our Conference Admin if required.

Programme

The draft programme will be released soon. Members will receive regular updates, but for now pur 23-24 May in your diary.  Then come along, listen, discuss:

  • How can managers and other decision makers get the information they need, process it, and decide what to do?
  • What is the information they need?
  • What tools help them make sense of it?
  • What’s available (or coming) to make it as easy and reliable as possible to do the right thing, in the right place at the right time?

It’s not just robots and computers : the quick Nitrate test promises rapid determination of available N while standing in the paddock – considerable help when deciding “do I put more now or can I hold off?” Combine that with smart crop zoning (that does involve computing) and maybe we can lift quality and reduce impacts.

We look forward to once again greeting delegates at the LandWISE Conference in Havelock North on 23-24 May 2018.

How to stay in touch

If you’re not already a subscriber, click here for the free e-newsletter. Remember too, members get conference discounts so click here to join.

Agronomy, AgTech, Automation, Conference, Data Analytics, Drainage, events, LandWISE People, MicroFarm, Nutrients, Orcharding, Plant Health, Precision Agriculture, Projects, Research, Robotics, Sensing, Soil, viticulture, Weeds

LandWISE 2018 Conference Speakers

We are absolutely delighted at the calibre of speakers coming together for LandWISE 2018 – Technologies for Timely Actions. They have a wide range of backgrounds, work in a range of different sectors looking at a wide range of different things. 

We’ve put information about the speakers on our discussion (blog) posts. Here, they are presented as a list with links so you can follow as you please.

We are grateful for the support of AGMARDT, McCain Foods and Heinz-Watties for helping bring our international speakers to New Zealand.

Invited Overseas Speakers

Dan Drost – Utah State University, USA

Will Bignell – DroneAg, Tasmania

Michael Nichols – Redbank Farming, Tasmania

Sarah Pethybridge – Cornell University, USA

Invited Local Speakers

Dan Bloomer – LandWISE

Tim Herman – NZ Apples and Pears

Wade Riley – GPS Control Systems

Mark Bart – Metris

Dan Clark – Eagle Technologies

Bruce Searle – Plant & Food Research

Matt Norris – Plant & Food Research

Aldrin Rivas – Lincoln AgriTech

Taylor Welsh – Plant & Food

Matthew Warner and Nicholas Woon – Acuris Systems

Matty Blomfield – Hectre

Armin Werner – Lincoln AgriTech

Shane Wood – Vinea

 

 

Agronomy, AgTech, Automation, LandWISE People, MicroFarm, Precision Agriculture, Projects, Research

LandWISE OnionsNZ Project on TV

We invite you to watch telly. Here’s a link to Rural Delivery, broadcast on Saturday 21 April.

At the end of January, we had a visit from director Kirsty Cooper and camera and sound operator Richard Williams of Showdown Productions.

Why did they come?

They were filming for Rural Delivery and wanted to discuss the Onions New Zealand MPI Sustainable Farming Fund project we have been doing with Plant & Food Research. Now drawing to a close, the three year project has investigated ways to map crop variability at field scale and where variability originates.

The story began four years ago when we had a crop of onions at the MicroFarm. To get a good look at the crop LandWISE Manager, Dan Bloomer climbed up the irrigator.

“The view when you get 7m up in the air and look down is very different to what you see walking around, and I saw massive variability throughout the crop,” he said.

Wide variation within the area new to onions does not follow artificial rain or topographic drainage patterns.

“I could understand some of it but a lot more I couldn’t explain. A colleague was playing around with imaging and smart phones and he made an application where we could drive up and down the rows and map the percentage canopy cover.  I talked about it with  Onions NZ Research Manager Jane Adams who thought it would be quite useful and could lead to greater understanding of variability in onion crops.”

We then partnered with Plant and Food Research with support from Onions New Zealand and the Sustainable Farming Fund to do a project aimed at studying that variability.

Bruce Searle, crop scientist with Plant & Food Research, designed a research approach to get the data we needed to make some practical applications. 

“We wanted to figure out where the variability comes from and how much of it is something that a grower can control.  So we looked at the different factors that might influence variability and worked through the contribution of each to the overall variability,” he says.

“A lot of it comes down to individual plants growing at different rates – something that the grower can’t do a lot about.  However, factors that influence getting good crop establishment are critical to reducing variability, and once the crop is up you can look at poor performing areas within in the crop.   The tool that Dan has been working on captures that information so that you can map the field and make some decisions.”

Bruce showing Richard the Quick Test for Soil Nitrate

We have done items with Showdown Productions before and have enormous respect for their work. You can see the result of the onion interviews on Rural Delivery, TVNZ1.

 

Agronomy, AgTech, Automation, Conference, Data Analytics, Drainage, events, Membership, MicroFarm, Nutrients, Orcharding, Plant Health, Precision Agriculture, Projects, Research, Robotics, Sensing, Soil, viticulture

LandWISE 2018 Conference Sponsors

We are delighted to present our 2018 Platinum Sponsors, BASF Crop Protection, Hawke’s Bay Regional Council and Power Farming.

BASF Crop Protection and  Hawke’s Bay Regional Council are long term loyal supporters of LandWISE and their contributions are highly valued. Power Farming is a new Platinum Sponsor in 2018 and we look forward to our relationship with them. AGMARDT sponsored our international speakers.

 Hawke’s Bay Regional Council has been part of LandWISE since 1999, when some farmers, scientists and industry people got together to try and improve soil quality, stop wind erosion and improve irrigation efficiency and of course yields. Our Mission doesn’t change so much, but the tools to help us along the way certainly have!

BASF Crop Protection has been a foundation sponsor of the LandWISE MicroFarm as well as our annual conferences.  They show ongoing enthusiasm to help us help farmers and that is greatly appreciated.

Our new Platinum Sponsor is Power Farming. We’ve had help from them in several of our projects, most recently with the Canterbury field work and field events that were part of our FAR/SFF Fertiliser Spreader Calibration project.  The Power Farming catalogue matches well with our conference delegates’ and members’ interests.

We are grateful to our long-term Gold Sponsors, Horizons Regional Council, Process Vegetables NZ and Vegetables NZ, and AGMARDT.

Horizons Regional Council has supported our conference field sessions for a number of years and is a key partner for some of our major research and extension projects including “Integrated Storm Water Management” and “Holding it Together“.

AGMARDT has funded travel expenses to bring many international speakers to our Annual Conferences, as well as several projects including “Soils First Farmers” and “Validating Field Robotics“.

Process Vegetables NZ and Vegetables NZ have been conference sponsors for many years. As the levy funded industry research bodies they represent the farmers in our membership and nationally. These bodies also co-fund research projects including a number of our Sustainable Farming Fund initiatives.

Our conference delegates are well supported by our meal sponsors and trade displays. In addition, Apatu Farms sponsor high school students to attend, and McCain Foods and Heinz-Wattie’s are sponsoring keynote Sarah Pethybridge‘s travel.  Thanks everyone!

 

Agronomy, AgTech, Conference, Drainage, Precision Agriculture

Will Bignell

Will “DroneAg” Bignell is a farmer and agricultural scientist who has worked across a number of disciplines ranging from a PhD in enhancing omega-3 in sheep meat to flying drones commercially.

Will is a 7th generation farmer from Bothwell in Tasmania and the family farm is well known for pioneering and innovating a number of new and emerging Australian industries. He runs the farm with his parents and produce wool, poppies, lamb, venison and number of boutique specialty root vegetables. 240Ha of the farm is under irrigation and 150ha is under an intensive cropping rotation.

In his LandWISE 2018 presentation Will presented his own farm case study of precision drainage including the use of UAVs to collect terrain data, the tools used to design and implement drainage plans and the results following a heavy rainfall event.

DroneAg is the combination of  Will and Kyle Gardner who combine a unique mix of skills that places DroneAg in a very strong position to push the boundaries of just what drones can do for farm businesses.

Will’s attendance at LandWISE 2018 was supported by AGMARDT

 

Agronomy, AgTech, Conference, Data Analytics, LandWISE People, Nutrients, Research

Bruce Searle

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Bruce Searle is well known to LandWISE regulars having been on the Board for many years and an active contributor at many conferences and other events.

A crop physiologist in the Integrated Crop Production Systems group, Bruce leads the Plant & Food team researching onion crop development and modelling. His group is responsible for recording the life histories of 2,000 individual onion plants!

These data have informed development of an on-line tool to assess crop performance and help growers understand if crop development (and yield) is limited by established population, plant growth or both.

The collaboration with LandWISE has combined detailed plot scale work with whole paddock surveys to help Onions New Zealand growers understand the drivers of crop variability.

A small trial within this project looked at fertiliser rate and timing options when canopies are variable. Can we reduce rates in small canopy areas and still get the potential yield?