Category Archives: Vegetables

AgTech, Automation, Conference, Fruit, Innovation, Robotics, Vegetables

Mechanising Produce Handling – Rob Elstone

Rob Elstone is the Co-Founder and CEO of Hortworx and owner of RBE Automation.

Coming from a background in aviation, commercial and industrial electrical, Rob was Lead Automation Engineer with Fruit Handling systems and subsequently Compac Sorting.

Having spent the last 7 years in the fruit industry, Rob’s passion for machine building has led to the launch of Hortworx’ flagship products, the Robotic Bin Filling range.

With the goal to improve the efficiency of Packhouses and Orchards, through the smart use of robotics, Rob has a vision to maintain the human machine collaboration through “Inclusive Automation”.

At LandWISE 2021, Rob will talk about the development of products for the horticulture industry. He will have equipment on display at the field event.

Thanks to all our sponsors!

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, 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, 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, Conference, events, LandWISE People, Membership, MicroFarm, Nutrients, Projects, Uncategorized, Vegetables

LandWISE AGM – Tuesday 21st July

Our 2020 Annual General Meeting was held on Tuesday 21st of July at the Green Shed in Hastings. After missing the annual conference catch-up, we were grateful to reconnect with existing members and meet some new ones!

We thank Ollie Knowles for his input as a Board member over the last three years. Ollie played a significant role in the review of our strategy and was a solid contributor with great knowledge of science extension. We look forward to continuing our relationship with Ollie.

We welcome Simon White to the Board following his appointment at the AGM. Simon runs the family’s Ludlow Farm at Otane in Hawke’s Bay. He is an experienced strip-tiller and no-tiller producing a range of arable, specialist seed and vegetable crops along with finishing beef and lamb. Simon is also co-founder and director of Kanapu Hemp Foods, growing, harvesting, processing and marketing a range of products.

AGM attendees heard LandWISE project updates from the past twelve months, and contributed to some great discussion around nutrient management and cover cropping.

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

This year we were joined by guest speaker, and longtime LandWISE member, Charles “Merf” Merfield. Merf presented on cover crops, their benefits and challenges for a variety of horticultural and arable systems. In case you missed it, you can view his presentation here.

LandWISE Staff presented on progress updates from our three major projects Future Proofing Vegetable Production, Smart Tools for Orchard Drainage, and Managing Herbicide Resistance:

Thank you again to all those that came, we look forward to seeing more of you at a field day, workshop, or on-farm sometime soon!

Agronomy, AgTech, Automation, Conference, Controlled Traffic Systems, Data Analytics, Drainage, events, Fertiliser, Innovation, Irrigation, LandWISE 2015, LandWISE People, Membership, MicroFarm, New Crops, Nutrients, Orchard, Orcharding, Plant Health, Planting, Precision Agriculture, Projects, Research, Robotics, Sensing, Soil, Tillage, Uncategorized, Vegetables, viticulture, Water, Weeds

Memberships Open for 2020-2021

Calling all followers and friends of LandWISE, we invite you to become a financial member this year.

Your support is vital for LandWISE to continue doing what we do. We rely on farmer support to ensure the backing of new projects, discover new areas for research or technology adoption, and to fund field days, workshops and the development of practical resources. 

LandWISE Membership is a great way to support the mission of sustainable production in New Zealand, and as a member you’ll benefit from:

  • Results from on-farm trials
  • Projects focussed on real farmer and grower problems
  • Regional field days and workshops on a range of topics from conserving soil to nutrient management and novel fertiliser technology
  • A discounted registration at the 2021 LandWISE Conference
  • Subscription to our annual LandWISE News publication

Membership is open to all who are interested in primary production and share our values. We hope you’ll consider becoming a member, or forward this on to a non-member if you already are!

Sign up here >

Agronomy, Conference, events, Fertiliser, Nutrients, Soil, Uncategorized, Vegetables

Reducing Nitrogen Losses from Intensive Vegetable Production – Panel Discussion

LandWISE: Promoting Sustainable Crop Production
LandWISE: Promoting Sustainable Crop Production
Reducing Nitrogen Losses from Intensive Vegetable Production - Panel Discussion
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Thank you to those who joined us for the Live Panel Discussion with June’s podcast guests. We were thrilled to get so many participants in our first live webcast, and appreciated the rich conversation as a result of the varied viewpoints from panel presenters and listeners.

For those of you who weren’t able to make it to the Live Panel on Reducing Nitrogen Losses from Intensive Vegetable Production we recorded the discussion and you can listen to it above.

The Panel Discussion was presented on June 30th, after our presenters each featured on the LandWISE Podcast. If you’re interested to hear more from Jay Clarke, Luke Posthuma, Georgia O’Brien or Charles (Merf) Merfield, you can listen to their podcast episodes here:

All Podcast Episodes here >

Subscribe to our newsletter to receive the latest news from LandWISE including future panel webcasts, and podcast episodes.

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

Introducing our Podcast

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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, Fertiliser, Nutrients, Plant Health, Projects, Research, Vegetables

LandWISE 2020 – CANCELLED

IMPORTANT ANNOUCEMENT: LANDWISE 2020
CANCELLED

WE HOPE TO BRING IT TO YOU IN A DIFFERENT FORMAT. WE ARE ACTIVELY EXPLORING OPTIONS AND OPPORTUNITIES

The COVID19 beat LandWISE 2020. We were looking forward to an interesting two days filled with presentations from lead researchers and growers, networking, and practical demonstrations focussed on the theme of “Back to the Future”. But that cannot happen.

We regret this, but fully support the government’s initiatives and a fully complying at work, home and play. All registration fees have been refunded. We are working with our loyal sponsors to find ways to bring you the ustainable cropping messages we had lined up.

LandWISE staff are still working, so contact us by email or phone.

Dan, John and the LandWISE team