Dr Charles ‘Merf’ Merfield is running an updated version of his non-chemical weed management workshop. Merf is an international researcher on non-chemical weed management. He has 30 years practical and research experience in non-chemical weed management including inventing a range of weeding machinery.
Topics covered include: the context of weed management; essential weed biology and ecology; integrated weed management; plus detailed coverage of field operations and machinery. It will also cover the significant advances in electrothermal weeders that are a substitute for glyphosate, as well as robotic weeding which has been advancing at incredible speed.
The workshop will be at the Agrodome in Rotorua on Tuesday 26 July, from 9am to 5pm. Cost is NZ$450.00 excl. GST.
Thanks to everyone who made LandWISE 21 such a successful Conference!
We were a touch nervous after Covid-cancelling last year, but so heartened when our sponsors jumped on-board, and delgetaes began registering earlier than usual. Perhaps there was a vacuum . . .
The speakers’ presentations are summarised in a series of blog posts, many with a short sound clip. The time put in to create the presentations is clearly huge, it is a very large gift each one makes. Thanks each and every one of you!
Measurable Value from Spatial Data and Precision Agriculture
Tim Neale is Managing Director at Datafarming, where he leads a team of spatial data experts, agronomy consultants, software developers and field technicians are closely aligned to agronomists and the agriculture industry in Australia and New Zealand.
Based in Toowoomba, Queensland, Tim is well known to many LandWISE members. He was ICT Entrepreneur of the Year 2019, and Australian Rural Consultant of the Year 2018.
Tim will describe the various tools in development and available via the DataFarming Platform. He proudly describes DataFarming as Australia’s most popular precision ag software, a claim he can well justify. 15 years in the making, DataFarming continues to develop web mapping applications for Digital Agronomy and Agri-Intelligence. Their aspirational aim is to have 50% of agronomists using spatial data. DataFarming is also developing tools for machine learning using spatial data to deliver deep insights into ag production.
Jay Clarke, Director of Woodhaven Gardens joined us at LandWISE 21 to discuss changes that have been made on their vegetable growing farm.
Woodhaven grows a diverse range of 23 vegetable crops in Horowhenua. Operating on more than 1000ha their annual production comprises 10% of the national fresh leafy greens supply for New Zealand.
Woodhaven Gardens has been working hard to meet and exceed environmental targets in their region. They have sought help from the experts, collaborated within their community, and thoroughly reviewed their processes on-farm to achieve improved environmental outcomes. Some examples include considerable reductions in fertiliser use, reduced soil and nutrient losses, contribution of land and resources for trials, and community engagement supporting other vegetable growers with environmental management.
Jay urges growers to avoid “ticking the compliance boxes”. AS well as providing 220-250 full-time jobs, Woodhaven Gardens consults with their community, iwi and regulators to understand their needs and wants. By meeting these community aspirations, Jay believes Woodhaven Gardens will stay ahead of regulation.
Listen to a Summary SoundClip here:
Woodhaven Gardens was named the Regional Supreme Winner at the Horizons Ballance Farm Environment Awards in April 2020. This award recognised their significant efforts to improve their efficiency on-farm and the environmental outcomes of their land management practices. Judges commented that “new technology is being integrated to lower nutrient output” and that “the Clarke’s are making changes to their business to improve water quality”.
Dan Bloomer is LandWISE Manager and a consultant working with and between farmers, scientists and regulators. He likes to be “linking thinking from the farm out”.
Through the MPI SFF project, “Future Proofing Vegetable Production”, Dan, Georgia O’Brien and Luke Posthuma worked with growers to identify ways to minimise nitrate leaching from vegetable production areas.
In this LandWISE 21 Conference presentation, Dan will describe the four strands they set out to address: Precision Prescription, Precision Application, Maximum Retention and Nutrient Mitigation, and the processes for achievement they employed.
The LandWISE team has observed a significant shift in grower thinking and practice. This came when growers were supported with easy to access and use tools and one-on-one coaching.
LandWISE Precision Agronomist, Luke Posthuma has lead our Future Proofing Vegetable Production project since arriving in 2019. He established and owns GrowMaps, a precision mapping company and has a passion for farming and horticulture.
Through the SFF Future Proofing Vegetable Production project, we have seen time and again that fertiliser savings can be made by applying the right rate of nitrogen fertiliser based on cropping goals and soil test values.
Last summer’s sweetcorn trials demonstrated that there was little value in switching to more ‘efficient’ forms of nitrogen where the application rate is already higher than required. Following on from last year’s work, this summer we set up 12 sweetcorn and 6 field tomato split-paddock trials in Gisborne and Hawke’s Bay to test two grower tools. We compared current grower fertiliser practice with a side-dressing rate determined using either the FAR Nitrate Quick Test Calculator or the HortNZ Nutrient Management Guidelines for Vegetable Crops.
Using the grower’s expected yield for a given planting, a pre-plant soil test with a potentially available N result and a Nitrate Quick test soil test collected to 90cm just prior to side-dressing, we found growers could often* (please note – not always) get away with significantly less nitrogen than they expected to apply.
For growers facing continued environmental pressure, soil testing is a tool that can be used to justify nutrient applications. A nitrate quick test costs less than $2 plus the time taken to collect the soil sample. The Nitrate Quick Test will show whether more or less fertiliser is required, and if your current fertiliser plan is about correct.
Taking soil tests at harvest, we found that by using less nitrogen at side-dressing, we had also reduced the nitrogen in the soil profile at harvest. Minimising excess nitrogen left in the soil after harvest will reduce over-winter nitrogen leaching from a cropping paddock.
Deep Soil Sampling for Nitrate
We want to apply sufficient nitrogen to maximise crop yield without leaving significant quantities in the soil after the crop is harvested. Following good practice means applying the right rate of fertiliser for each of your crops. The right rate will vary based on the soil test results and your expected yields.
Aaron is a Stanford University graduate with both a technical and agricultural background. Aaron has prior experience in running his own company as well as being involved with several start-up opportunities and VC firms in Silicon Valley.
Aaron moved to New Zealand in 2016 where he co-founded an AgriTech company specializing in smart irrigation control. At the end of 2020 he joined CropX, a global AgAnalytics company whose vision is to revolutionize and automate the farm and the decision-making process.
At LandWISE 2021, using case studies of growers from around the world, Aaron illustrated examples of the myriad of tools and technologies growers have at their disposal, and how CropX helps connect the dots between these data layers to make management decisions with tangible outcomes.
David Manktelow founded Applied Research and Technologies, providing contract and independent research work in horticultural plant protection, pathology and spray application technology.
A life-long innovator, he constantly seeks technologies that do tasks better. Whether simple strips of water sensitive paper or a fast laser scanner, he finds ways to help growers constantly improve practices.
At LandWISE 2021, David described the Green Atlas system of automatic counting and mapping of flowers and fruit in orchards. Together with Fruition Horticulture’s Jack Hughes, David has trialled the Green Atlas system in Hawke’s Bay and displayed the equipment at the field event.
Green Atlas Cartographer is a combination of hardware and software that allows flower and fruit counts to be quickly and accurately mapped over entire orchards. An unprecedented level of detail allows crop management to be tailored to every tree.
Matty Blomfieldgrew up in a small town in New Zealand. He took a chance and moved to Japan at 17, and later New York to broaden his view of the world. When he asked growers and packhouses what their biggest problem was they answered, “How do I know what fruit I have to store/pack/sell?”
Committed to reducing the amount of fruit wasted globally, by giving growers the platform to capture data, analyse their orchard in ways they’ve never done before, and improve the consistency of high quality, safe fruit, Matty co-founded Hectre to provide an orchard management software tool. Their super quick and simple fruit sizing app, Spectre, is an example of the innovation they’re bringing to the fruit industry.
Spectre uses computer vision AI technology to detect fruit size and colour, all from the simple click of an iPad or iPhone. Sample sizes captured by Spectre are 100 times those obtained in traditional sizing practices and accuracy levels are extremely high at 95%+. Results are served up within seconds making Spectre the simplest, fastest and most accurate, portable computer vision fruit sizing tool available on the market.
Dr Charles ‘Merf’ Merfield is running an updated version of his non-chemical weed management workshop. Merf is an international researcher on non-chemical weed management. He has 30 years practical and research experience in non-chemical weed management including inventing a range of weeding machinery.
Project Wrap-up and Trial Results
Based in Toowoomba, Queensland, Tim is well known to many LandWISE members. He was ICT Entrepreneur of the Year 2019, and Australian Rural Consultant of the Year 2018.
Jay Clarke, Director of 
LandWISE Precision Agronomist, Luke Posthuma has lead our 
David Manktelow
