Once again we are regrettably cancelling the LandWISE Conference. The Board determined that too many organisations are struggling to keep teams operating with Covid and that encouraging people to gather is not wise. Some of our most loyal supporters suggested they would not want staff to attend this year.
Our strongest hope is that we can gather again in 2023. In the meantime, we are investigating another podcast/webinar series. If you have a topic you’d like explored, contact us!
Many thanks to our sponsors and supporters who had offered to provide assistance again in 2022. Hopefully, we’ll have and event in 2023.
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!
Dr Jamie Blennerhassett is opening LandWISE 2021 asking the questions, “What are the future challenges to the primary industry and where might they come from?”
Jamie looked at the opportunity to get ahead of those challenges so that we not only survive as an industry but thrive.
Future environmental trends, regulations, technology threats and opportunities
Anyone with a passing interest in the news will see daily items covering the impending catastrophe of climate change and the ongoing decline of our freshwater resources. Alongside these stories, you will also likely see reporting on regulatory reform introduced to deal with these challenges as well as the resultant dissatisfaction from farmers at the scale and pace of those regulatory changes.
Should any of this have been a surprise? In short the answer is no. We have been aware of declining water quality and a changing climate from human caused greenhouse gas emissions for well over 20 years, as firstly scientists, then environmentalists and lastly the wider public sounded alarm bells and raised concerns around human caused impacts on the environment. The resulting outcome in the shape of regulatory change was inevitable as the voice of the people took effect.
So as we sit here now and reflect on the fact that the regulatory response was entirely predictable by following the science and the subsequent consumer/community desires, what are the next issues that will drive regulatory change and how do we get out in front of the change?
Topics such as indigenous biodiversity and water use efficiency are obvious places to start as they gain increasing attention from scientists and environmentalists alike. While many consumer trends come and go, particularly around things like fashion and diets, trends linked to the environment and sustainability have been consistent and growing for well over 20 years and usually follow the science.
By looking to the science, we likely allow ourselves an early insight into the next consumer trends and a chance to get ahead of the curve in the premium end of the market by setting up our farming systems to solve for these problems. Not only will this allow us to win in the market place, it will likely have us well placed for the next wave of regulatory change that will invariably follow shortly behind those consumer demands as they then turn into the voice of the people at the ballot box.
Listen to a Summary SoundClip here:
Jamie is the Innovation Leader at Ballance AgriNutrients. He has 20 years’ experience in the fertiliser industry across a range of leadership roles from science and new product development to sales management.
Jamie has a PhD in soil science from Massey University and has a passion for finding an optimum balance between the need for efficient food production and protecting our natural environment.
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.
Stephen Collins is a groundwater scientist for Horizons Regional Council where his job involves managing the monitoring and research aspects of the region’s groundwater resources. A particular research interest of his is understanding land use effects on water quality, which has culminated into him undertaking a PhD part-time.
Stephen’s research is on refining estimates of subsurface nitrogen attenuation. At LandWISE 2021, he discussed nitrogen attenuation and how more accurate predictions of it can help improve overall catchment management.
Abstract:
Subsurface nitrogen attenuation – a key unknown in modelling catchment-scale water quality scenarios
1Massey University, Farmed Landscapes Research Centre (FLRC), Palmerston North
2Horizons Regional Council (HRC), Palmerston North
Subsurface nitrogen attenuation is a measure of how much nitrogen is removed in the subsurface environment below the farm root zone, varying from very low rates in some places, to very high rates elsewhere. In other words, some land units appear more resilient in dealing with nitrogen losses compared to others.
An effective understanding of where and when subsurface nitrogen attenuation occurs, and by how much, can have a significant impact on the way nitrogen losses to waterways are modelled and managed in a catchment, especially when water quality improvements are needed.
Where water quality improvements are required, catchment-scale water quality scenarios need to be developed that take account of attenuation dynamics. However, subsurface nitrogen attenuation appears to be spatially variable across different hydrogeological settings, leading to uncertainty in the modelling of those scenarios. Therefore, a robust method of predicting the spatial variability, and potential rate, of subsurface nitrogen attenuation across different hydrogeological settings in agricultural catchments is needed.
The primary nitrogen attenuation pathway in subsurface environments is denitrification, a microbially-facilitated biogeochemical process that reduces nitrate into predominantly ‘benign’ di-nitrogen gas. This process is governed by a range of physical, chemical and biological characteristics that influence ‘reduction-oxidation’ (redox) conditions in hydrogeological settings. Subsurface redox conditions can broadly be described as either reduced (where dissolved oxygen is low) or oxidised (where dissolved oxygen is abundant). Denitrification mainly occurs in reduced conditions.
Though the science of subsurface denitrification processes is being increasingly studied and better understood, the challenge yet remains to achieve a robust method of predicting the spatial variability, and potential rate, of subsurface nitrogen attenuation across different hydrogeological settings.
Direct measurements of denitrification is practically complex and resource intensive, and therefore not easily measurable over large spatial scales. However, the opportunity to meet this challenge potentially comes from the ability to use easily measurable groundwater quality parameters to assess groundwater redox conditions as a suitable proxy for nitrogen attenuation in subsurface environments. Further, groundwater redox conditions show a strong relationship with some landscape attributes such as soil drainage, permeability, rock type and soil texture.
To aid this research, Massey FLRC and HRC are collaboratively investigating how to refine, measure and account for subsurface nitrogen attenuation in New Zealand landscapes to inform modelling of catchment-scale water quality scenarios.
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.
Phillip Schofield is a soil scientist and rural professional, working with growers and farmers, helping them improve soil function and hence profit.
He holds a B Ag Sci (hons) and a PhD, is a Certified Nutrient Management Advisor and Certified Green House Gas Advisor. Phil is a founding Board Member of the HB Future Farming Charitable Trust.
Phil provides farmers and growers with soil health advice and adapt production systems to improve farm performance and profitability in the face of increasing compliance and regulation.
At LandWISE 21, he asked: Why is soil carbon important? How might we increase it?
Atmospheric CO2 is a greenhouse gas, responsible for global warming. The IPCC reports that soil holds two to three times as much carbon as the atmosphere, so the 4.5 billion ha of pastures and croplands are an immense source or sink.
Plants fix carbon dioxide by photosynthesis, and this provides a mechanism to move CO2 from the atmosphere to the soil. Human activities release about 9 GT C/yr. so increasing soil carbon by 0.4% would account for much of our emissions. It would also improve soil health and set us up better for climate change. Atmospheric CO2 can be sequestered. Plants exude 30% of their sugars through their roots, providing energy and raw materials for synthesis by other organisms.
Soils that contain more carbon have more humus to hold particles together, provide a better environment for root growth, hold more nutrients and hold more water. However, many of our current practices degrade soil. Regenerative practices address soil health by minimising disturbance, keeping the soil covered, always keeping living roots in the soil, increasing plant diversity and introducing grazing animals.
The HB Future Farming Trust aims to establish a series of trials partnering with industry, HBRC, CRIs and MPI. One set is a replicated trial proposed for the LandWISE MicroFarm, with further demonstration trials on orchards, vineyards, and arable and vegetable properties.
Trial sites will be heavily monitored, benchmarking soil physical, chemical and biological properties, nutrient and GHG budgets, water, energy and financial analyses of the enterprises.
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.
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 
Stephen Collins is a groundwater scientist for 
LandWISE Precision Agronomist, Luke Posthuma has lead our 
