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.
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:
- Dan Bloomer on Non-Herbicide Weed Control
- Georgia O’Brien on Nutrient Budget Templates for Vegetable Growers
- Luke Posthuma on Findings from Vegetable Trials
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!