Developments

Lincoln student in frontline of battle against stink bug

In the wake of the Queensland fruit fly threat Lincoln University PhD student Laura Nixon is working hard to develop a weapon in the fight to stop another unwanted destructive pest, the brown marmorated stink bug, coming into the country. The bug is currently regarded by New Zealand’s horticulture industry as one of the top six pests of concern. Ms Nixon’s research is funded by multiorganisational research collaboration Better Border Security (B3), and she is based at the Bio-Protection Research Centre on Lincoln’s Te Waihora campus. She is trying to come up with a way to chemically detect an infestation of the bugs in a confined space such as a shipping container, one of the ways it is envisaged the insect could make its way into the country. The brown marmorated stink bug is an agricultural pest found in Asia, but it has invaded the United States and it is considered highly likely it could successfully establish in New Zealand if it gets here. Since the insect arrived in the United States in the mid-1990s it has occasionally multiplied into plague proportions. In 2010 it caused US$37 million damage to apple crops across several states. It feeds on more than 300 hosts, primarily fruit trees and woody ornamentals but also field crops. Almost any crop can be at risk. Ms Nixon says the chemical compound, or the stink, the bugs emit when disturbed has been identified but she will work on trying to distinguish it from amongst other naturally emitted odours. Initially she will work with native stink bugs, which are not considered pests, and then travel to the United States to see if her results can be used on the pest species. She says the bugs are closely related so it is expected they will. Ms Nixon says the […]

Nominations open for Beef + Lamb awards

Nominations are now open for this annual event that champions the country’s top performing sheep farmers, breeders, and industry innovators. The fourth Beef + Lamb New Zealand Sheep Industry Awards will take place in Invercargill on Wednesday 1 July 2015. “It’s fitting that the New Zealand sheep industry recognises and rewards its top performers, and in doing so profiles the significant contribution it makes to the New Zealand economy,” says Beef + Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ) chief executive, Dr Scott Champion. “Productivity levels have improved dramatically over the past 20. Lambing percentages are 20 per cent higher than they were in 1995, and lamb carcase weights are up 28 per cent. “This improvement is down to expert farm management, the application of great science on farm, and genetics. These are the sorts of farming practices that have seen our sheep flock continue to produce the highest quality protein possible, and New Zealand sheep farmers continue to lead the world.” Dr Champion is inviting farmers, sheepmeat processors and others in the industry to join the organisation in celebrating the best of the best, and getting their nominations in for this year’s awards. Award categories cover genetics, production, and business innovation. The genetics awards recognise New Zealand’s top breeders. These will be drawn from the B+LNZ Genetics SIL database. Another six industry awards will be made to nominated individuals or businesses, assessed by a panel of sheep industry experts. The categories are: Sheep Industry Supplier of the Year, open to all New Zealand sheepmeat processors Sheep Industry Science Award, recognising a scientist whose work has made for a more productive and/or profitable sheep industry Sheep Industry Trainer of the Year, to a person enabling the best learning to happen Individual or Business Making a Significant Contribution to the New Zealand Sheep […]

Fledgling agri-food course whetting student appetites

A new multi-disciplinary degree course taking food production beyond the farm gate and onto the world stage is experiencing 150 per cent growth in new enrolment numbers in only the second year it has been offered at Lincoln University. Developed to meet the needs of an industry decrying a lack of graduates prepared for careers in the agri-food supply chain the Bachelor of Agribusiness and Food Marketing degree (B.AFM) has gone from 20 students in 2014 to 50 students this year. It is one of the success stories at Lincoln University’s Te Waihora campus which has seen good growth in new student enrolments in 2015, both for New Zealand and international students. Senior Agribusiness Management lecturer Nic Lees says the degree was a unique course in New Zealand “in that it is an integrated course that includes both commerce and science papers”. “The mix of business, food quality and safety, supply chain management and marketing is what differentiates the programme.” Mr Lees, who is the Director of Lincoln’s Agribusiness and Food Marketing programme says the degree was developed in conjunction with leading agri-food companies. “They have been saying that there is a lack of graduates prepared for careers in the agri-food supply chain beyond the farm gate. New Zealand has traditionally been good at producing food but there is a lack of expertise in marketing and value adding.” The degree has been endorsed by the Australian and New Zealand Produce Marketing Association and agri-food companies such as Zespri, Fonterra, Synlait Milk, ANZCO Foods, Silver Fern Farms and First Light Foods. Mr Lees says the degree equips students with a sound applied knowledge of core business concepts and the unique commercial considerations of the international agrifood industry. Students gain a contextual understanding of the global agribusiness and food marketing sectors. The […]

Food safety and processing key to new Chinese research agreement

Lincoln University continues to develop its interests in China with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with South China University of Technology, from Guangdong Province. As well as offering exchange opportunities for academic staff and students, the MOU aims to establish joint research projects between the two institutions. Most significantly, the requirements for developing a joint research centre for food safety and processing will also be discussed. This week saw a delegation of eight from China visit Lincoln on the back of the MOU. The delegation included Mr Zeng Xin’An, the Dean of the Chinese University’s College of Light Industry and Food Science, along with Mr Chen Yunxian, Vice-Governor of The People’s Government of Guangdong Province; Mr Zeng Lu, Director of the Department of Science and Technology of Guangdong Province; and Mr Pei Duanqin, Director General of Guangzhou Institute of Biomedicine and Health. “At the heart of this MOU is a desire to form research collaborations more specifically around food safety, food processing, and nutrition,” says Lincoln University Professor of Food Science, Charles Brennan. “This could mean anything from developing better processing systems and methods, to innovative new products. It’s an area that is of great importance in China, and so this MOU provides a great opportunity for information sharing and development,” he says. The agreement with South China University of Technology follows on from a series of commercial relationships already established with tertiary institutions and businesses across China; including the MOU signed in November last year with Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group, one of the largest dairy companies in China.

Lincoln grad’s new app makes field work a breeze

A Lincoln University IT graduate has completed an internship at a plant breeding and research company where he developed an app that is making life much easier for staff who carry out field work. Agriseeds science manager Colin Eady says Tao Zhou’s creation, which helps with data capture during field trials, has proven invaluable. “The modular system Tao developed simplifies data capture process, saves time and reduces errors,” says Mr Eady. Mr Zhou took on the internship as part of his Graduate Diploma of Software and IT and says he came up with the idea for the app after talking to Agriseeds staff and monitoring their workflow. “Seed data from the field used to be collected using paper and pen and keyed into a spreadsheet back at the office. After having some discussions with staff, we thought we would make things easier by developing an app,” he says. “The system is based on Microsoft Excel and runs on a tablet. It works by collecting data via a friendly, front-end interface, then the data is automatically transferred to Excel in standard format with error checking and validation. This makes it handy for preventing mistakes.” Mr Eady says the internship finished in November, but Mr Zhou continued to work at Agriseeds for a further three months to help troubleshoot any problems with the app. “During this time, he established efficient electronic capture and transfer of data between the Agriseeds Quality Assurance and Breeding team. He also helped improve a previous Lincoln University/Agriseeds collaboration concerning seed image analysis.” Before he attended Lincoln, Mr Zhou received a Bachelor’s degree in Electronic Science and Technology from Shandong University in Jinan, China, then worked in the software development and IT service industry for two years. “I worked as an engineer in the automation industry in China, […]

Rural Contractors ask: What about us?

Rural Contractors New Zealand is questioning why the Government has made recent changes to immigration rules to help Queenstown employers recruit much needed staff, but continues to ignore similar requests from the rural contracting sector. RCNZ President, Steve Levet agrees with the move made by Immigration Minister Michael Woodhouse for a new streamlined visa process – from now until June 2015 – to allow employers in Queenstown to be temporarily exempt from providing evidence of an attempt to recruit within New Zealand – except for roles that Work and Income has identified it may be able to fill. However, Mr Levet suggests a similar scheme is also badly needed in the rural contracting sector. “There is no doubt the tourism sector is an important and valuable part of New Zealand’s economy and the Government is right to make provisions for that sector,” he says. “However, we need similar provisions for the rural contracting sector as there is a gap between rural contractors’ needs for trained and experienced agricultural machinery operators, and unemployed New Zealanders who can do this work.” Mr Levet believes the rules around employing temporary, skilled people from overseas prepared to work for 6-8 months each year need to be simplified as do the regulations restricting people who have previously worked here in past seasons coming back to New Zealand to work. “Contracting is a seasonal business and one that uses sophisticated machinery that requires technical skill to operate productively,” he adds. “Part of this shortfall is met by bringing in skilled operators from overseas.” Mr Levet says despite many attempts made by RCNZ to advocate similar ideas for the rural contracting sector such as the recent tourism initiative, the Government and bureaucrats still fail to acknowledge or understand the issue. “A dire shortage of suitable agricultural machinery […]

Scales annual profit beats IPO forecast as apple exports drive horticulture earnings

Scales Corp, New Zealand’s biggest apple exporter, reported a 9.8 percent drop in annual profit, beating its offer document forecast, after better than expected apple volumes drove up earnings in its horticulture division. Net profit fell to $18.4 million, or 14.3 cents per share, in the calendar year 2014, from $20.4 million, or 16.8 cents, a year earlier, the Christchurch based company said in a statement. That beat the $15.9 million profit forecast in its June 2014 prospectus, a target the company had previously said it was on track to “slightly exceed”. Revenue slipped 3.2 percent to $263.3 million, and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation before listing costs was 2.7 percent ahead of its offer document forecast at $39.8 million. The result highlights “the strength of Scales’ diversified agribusiness portfolio,” chairman Jon Mayson said. “The horticulture and food ingredients divisions materially exceeded their prospectus forecasts, with stronger than anticipated volumes and market prices.” In December, Scales affirmed its 2015 guidance for profit of $20.8 million and Ebitda of $41.2 million on strength in Asian and Middle Eastern markets, favourable currency movements, and cheaper shipping costs. Scales’ horticulture division today reported an 8.9 percent decline in revenue to $158.8 million while underlying Ebitda of $23.9 million was 6.2 percent higher than forecast. Apple volumes were 7.1 percent ahead of expectations. Its Mr Apple brand is expected to add 450,000 cartons of premium apples by 2018, which Scales hopes to sell into Asia and the Middle East. The company’s food ingredients unit reported a 2.7 percent decline in sales to $32.2 million, while lifting Ebitda 19 percent to $5.7 million on higher than expected volumes. Its storage and logistics segment increased external sales 2.8 percent to $66.8 percent, while earnings fell 11 percent to $12.3 million, which the company said […]

Fonterra sticks with $4.70 farmer payout

After plummeting by 50 per cent last year, dairy prices look to have turned the corner. Fonterra has stuck with its $4.70 per kg farmgate milk price forecast for the 2014/15 season and its forecast cash payout of $4.95 – $5.05 a kg. The cooperative, the world’s biggest divesified milk processor, said that although dairy commodity prices had gone up, the increase was not sufficient to raise the forecast milk price. The last five GlobalDairyTrade (GDT) auctions have shown price improvements after prices dropped by 50 per cent last year. “Since December, GDT prices for whole milk Powder have increased 45 per cent and skim milk powder prices have increased 13 per cent,” chairman Jon Wilson said in a statement. “There continues to be significant volatility in international commodity prices,” he said. “New Zealand volumes are down, with continued uncertainty in milk production due to climatic conditions in New Zealand with droughts in Canterbury, Marlborough, Central Otago and North Otago,” he said.

New feed blend set to beef up Magnesium intake

A new Magnesium-rich feed blend is being launched to help beef farmers in the fight against Hypomagnesaemia (Magnesium deficiency) and Milk Fever (Calcium deficiency) – potentially deadly and costly problems. Difficult to detect and treat due to the extensive nature of beef cattle, Hypomagnesaemia, can be a major culprit of cow death and complications at calving, with losses of up to 20% reported on properties prone to the problem[1]. Often, the first sign of Magnesium deficiency is death, meaning loss of capital stock between $1,600-2,400 per cow (based on current prices), loss of calf, plus loss of breeding potential in the herd. To help solve the problem, animal feed ingredient supplier, BEC Feed Solutions, is partnering with animal feed manufacturer and blender, James & Son (NZ) Pty Ltd. Together, they’ve developed ‘Optimiser MAG – BEEF’ – a new Magnesium-rich concentrated feed blend, featuring the innovative and highly palatable BOLIFOR® MAG33 product – specifically for beef breeding cow operations. Trina Parker, BEC Country Manager, says awareness is growing about the need for adequate Magnesium in beef breeding cows leading up to calving and for the month post-calving, resulting in increased demand for a convenient, cost efficient mineral supplementation product. “On the back of our success with the Bolifor® range in dairying, we’ve had numerous requests from beef farmers for a low-risk feed blend incorporating high levels of Magnesium,” explains Ms Parker. “Our partnership with James & Son means we can deliver these benefits in the form of ‘Optimiser MAG – BEEF’. And, because BOLIFOR® MAG33 is extremely palatable, a concentrated mineral blend such as this will be readily accepted by the herd” ‘Optimiser MAG – BEEF’ comprises a blend of vegetable and grain by products, BOLIFOR® MAG33, sweeteners and additional flavours and is delivered in 500g per day dose rates. ‘Optimiser […]

No slowing in demand to buy Canterbury farms

Local and international interest in the New Zealand rural real estate market remains extremely strong, defying suggestions demand could soften in the face of the lower Fonterra payout to farmers. Shane O’Brien, national director of Colliers Rural & Agribusiness division, said buyers were taking the medium to long-term view of the dairy industry and were still keenly contesting quality land. “We’re still getting strong enquiry both from local buyers wanting to expand their land holdings as well as from international funds and private investors.” He said international funds wanted to invest in New Zealand farming as part of the global trend to secure food production for emerging Asian economies. “New Zealand has an excellent international reputation for food production, we have world class infrastructure to support on-going investment and we’re close to the burgeoning markets of Asia and India. After Denmark, we’re considered one of the safest economies in the world in which to conduct business.” Colliers Rural & Agribusiness had recently negotiated three substantial off market sales in Canterbury to local buyers. While the deals were confidential, O’Brien said prices were equal to levels achieved over the past two years, reflecting continued confidence in the dairy industry. Buyers were increasingly sophisticated in their requirements, seeking reliable and good quality irrigation along with detailed information on nutrient management status of any given property. O’Brien said Australia’s Free Trade Agreement with China, coupled with its strong government support for investment in the dairy industry in both land and infrastructure, had yet to impact on the New Zealand rural real estate market. “Australia is looking for around $10 billion worth of external investment in their dairy industry and has government support to enable this – they don’t have the same Overseas Investment Office regulations that New Zealand has and their new Free […]

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