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Aparima environment plans driving change

A new survey of farmers in Aparima, Southland, shows farms achieve better environmental results when they have Farm Environment Plans. Six hundred dairy, sheep and beef farmers work together in the Aparima Community Environment Project, which aims to improve the health of freshwater and reduce environmental footprint. A recent survey of 151 Aparima farmers showed 80 percent have Farm Environment Plans – an increase of 23 percent on last year. The survey also highlighted that farmers with environment plans are more likely to implement a range of good farming practices. “These survey results show how serious farmers are about taking care of the environment,” said Otautau dairy farmer Edwin Mabonga, from mid-Aparima. Of the farmers surveyed, 95 percent have excluded stock from waterways – up 4 percent on last year. Eighty-seven percent use nitrogen fertiliser strategically – up 4 percent (this means using fertiliser only as needed to maximise pasture uptake and only on certain parts of the farm). “Farm Environment Plans identify environmental risks and management options on the farm, and contribute to improving water quality and other environmental benefits,” said Edwin. “They are living, breathing documents that help farmers achieve better environmental outcomes.” Plans must include actions to reduce farm sediment and nutrient loss, outline how wintering rules will be implemented, and where to riparian plant and fence. The plans are reviewed annually. Thousands of farms already have a comprehensive Farm Environment Plan and sector groups are continuing to further develop them as an effective way to accelerate further improvements. Farmers in the Aparima Community Environment Project are making significant changes which illustrates the type of innovation and commitment needed to surpass good management practices and set farmers in good stead for future. Edwin said his Farm Environment Plan ensures all his team know and understand the way […]

Dairy sector already committed to climate change solutions

DairyNZ shares the government’s ambition to reduce climate change emissions and today’s declaration of a climate emergency will further highlight the issue’s importance. The dairy sector’s climate change commitments and research are geared at supporting farmers to reduce emissions, to help achieve national greenhouse gas targets. “Dairy farmers are taking climate change seriously and the sector is committed to playing our part in tackling climate change and reducing our overall footprint,” said DairyNZ chief executive, Dr Tim Mackle. “There are no silver bullets, it is about making incremental changes across the whole farm system. While many solutions are known, some are not, which is why DairyNZ and others are investing heavily in research. “It is critical the government supports farmers to make change over a generation and the pace of other regulation recognises the efforts being made by the dairy sector.” Internationally, New Zealand already stacks up well, as one of the most sustainable and emission efficient dairy producers in the world. “If all dairy producers were as efficient as New Zealand, more than half the global emissions from dairy could be removed. But we know we can be even better and the dairy sector is 100 percent committed to this,” said Dr Mackle. The primary sector has joined forces with government and iwi/ Māori in a world-first climate change partnership, He Waka Eke Noa, which will support farmers and growers to measure, manage and reduce emissions. He Waka Eke Noa is a five-year programme giving farmers and growers the information, tools and support to reduce emissions and adapt to a changing climate. It includes clear actions and timeframes for environmental improvements. This includes rolling out Farm Environment Plans for all farms by 2025 to ensure every farmer knows their emissions footprint, where those emissions come from and how to […]

New precision irrigation carriage reduces water and fertiliser consumption by 75%

A roller energy chain in a guidelite guide trough ensures safe guidance of the hoses and cables in the precision irrigation carriage. The aim of the precision irrigation carriage from Rathmakers Gartenbautechnik is to use water resources sensibly whilst protecting the groundwater at the same time. With the new automatic irrigation system, the water reaches exactly where it should: directly to the plants. For the safe and compact guidance of hoses and cables, the developers rely on an igus energy chain system consisting of roller chain and guide trough. Water shortage is a major problem worldwide, which is why solutions are needed, especially in agriculture, which bring water in a targeted manner to the plant. For this purpose, Rathmakers Gartenbautechnik has developed a precision irrigation carriage together with Landwirtschaftskammer NRW. Whereas conventional irrigation carriages with a continuous jet stream waste a lot of water, the precision watering carriage irrigates and fertilises in a stipulated way. The unique system is especially suitable for outdoor potted plant cultivation and ensures that water is delivered precisely into the middle of the plant’s growing pot. By using this new technology, savings of 50 to 75 per cent are possible in irrigation water, plant protection and fertiliser, depending on the pot size. This also reduces the nitrogen input into the groundwater. The precision irrigation carriage has a span of 40m and a travel of 208m. The cables and hoses for the water supply were pulled behind the carriages until now. A loop was created, which required about 2m of space between the carriage guide and the plants. A safe and space-saving hose with cable guidance was required. 343 sqm of more usable space The main advantage of the system: by guiding the hoses and cables, the usable area is increased by 343 square metres. It […]

Self-Watering soil makes farming viable everywhere

Scientists from UT Austin’s Cockrell School of Engineering have developed a new type of soil that can pull water from the air and distribute it to plants. As novel as it sounds, this soil could help expand the map of ‘farmable’ land around the globe to previously inhospitable places, and reduce water usage in agriculture at a time of growing droughts. According to associate professor Guihua Yu, the team’s unique atmospheric water irrigation system uses super-moisture-absorbent gels to capture water from the air. When the soil is heated to a certain temperature, the gels release the water, making it available to plants. Moreover, when the soil distributes water, some of it goes back into the air, increasing humidity and making it easier to continue the harvesting cycle. According to Yu, each gram of soil can extract approximately 3-4 grams of water. Depending on the crops, approximately 0.1 to 1 kilogram of the soil can provide enough water to irrigate about a square meter of farmland. The gels in the soil pull water out of the air during cooler, more humid periods at night. Solar heat during the day activates the water-containing gels to release their contents into soil. During a four-week experiment, the team found that its soil retained approximately 40% of the water quantity it started with. In contrast, sandy soil had only 20% of its water left after just one week. In another experiment, the team planted radishes in both types of soil. The radishes in the hydrogel soil all survived a 14-day period without any irrigation beyond an initial round to make sure the plants took hold. On the other hand, radishes in the sandy soil were irrigated several times during the first four days of the experiment – but none of them survived more than two days after […]

The power of traceability for food and medical manufacturers

– Reinaldo Silva, Head of Digital Manufacturing and Automation at Facteon As food and medical manufacturers face stringent regulations, an ability to trace the movement of raw materials and finished product both within your facility and beyond is demanded throughout industry by manufacturers of all sizes. A variety of forces have highlighted the need for food and medical manufacturers to gain greater traceability of both raw materials and finished products within their facility and beyond. Risk One: Increasingly Globalised Supply Chains As it becomes more cost-effective and simpler to source raw materials from suppliers across the globe, manufacturers are relying on increasingly globalised supply chains. While this brings a range of benefits, such as proximity to raw materials, cost competitiveness and improved quality of raw materials, there are significant risks as the supply chain becomes increasingly complex. As a result, traceability requirements expand significantly. Simplistic supply chain approaches that focus on “one step back and one step forward” traceability become increasingly complicated and impractical when manufacturers are drawing on a globalised supply chain. Risk Two: Product Recalls Tyson Foods famously recalled 39,000 pounds of frozen chicken patties which were potentially contaminated with foreign matter in mid-2019. From business interruption and eroded profit margins to long-term damage to your brand, a product recall has the potential to harm consumers and cost manufacturers dearly. Research has also found that a mere 21% of food recalls across USA, UK and Ireland were detected by the manufacturer. In fact, regulatory bodies discovered 68% during routine or spot testing. This highlights the potential competitive advantage that can be unlocked by manufacturers taking a proactive approach to both raw material and product traceability. Medical device manufacturers are also at risk of product recalls. Research has found that a significant challenge for medical manufacturers in the event of a product recall is tracing each […]

ClearTech® set to deliver massive water savings for dairy farming

The ClearTech effluent treatment system at Lincoln University Dairy Farm (LUDF) has saved over 600,000 litres of freshwater in its first full month of operation. The quantity of freshwater saved equates to the average daily water use of about 3,000 people, or the amount of water that an individual person would use in eight years. With steeply-rising farmer demand for ClearTech, the new effluent treatment technology will potentially save billions of litres of freshwater a year if used across the New Zealand dairy industry. LUDF Farm Manager Peter Hancox says the impact of the ClearTech system on the farm’s operations has been a revelation. “Our ClearTech plant has been fully operational since the start of our milking season, and already the amount of freshwater we’ve saved is remarkable. We’re saving at least 50% of the water used to wash the yard. “If we continue along this trend, and we fully expect to, then over the whole 10-month season we’ll achieve a total saving of 6,000,000 litres of freshwater.” Hancox says the costs of set-up and ongoing maintenance are relatively modest, and far outweighed by the benefits that will accrue to farms and the wider community. And as the ClearTech system works away in the background, its benefits are delivered with no extra effort on behalf of the farmer. “It’s a win/win for farmers and the communities they’re part of, as every litre of wastewater recycled is a litre of freshwater saved.” The breakthrough technology, developed by Lincoln University Soil Science Professors Keith Cameron and Hong Di, in conjunction with commercial partner Ravensdown, won the Science & Research Award at the inaugural Primary Industries Awards in July 2019, and the South Island Agricultural Fieldays Agri-Innovation Award, as well as a Highly Commended at the 2019 National Fieldays Innovation Awards. The ClearTech […]

E-Nose accurately detects if meat is fresh or spoiled

An NTU Singapore-led team of scientists have developed a new AI-powered electronic nose (e-nose) that can accurately measure the freshness of meat. Led by NTU professor Chen Xiaodong, the team – which includes scientists Jiangnan University, China, and Monash University, Australia – believes their artificial olfactory system could help reduce food wastage by confirming to consumers whether the purchased meat is fit for consumption, much more accurately than a ‘Best Before’ label can. The e-nose comprises of two elements: a colored ‘barcode’ that reacts with gases produced by decaying meat; and a barcode ‘reader’ in the form of a smartphone app that uses AI to interpret the combination of colors on the barcode. According to Xiaodong, the e-nose can be easily integrated into packaging materials – like the underside of the PVC film that the meat is packaged in – and yields results within 30 seconds without the bulky wiring typically used for electrical signal collection. The e-nose’s non-destructive, automated and real-time monitoring capability can also be used to recognise the types of gases that other types of perishable food emit as they become less fresh, providing a broadly applicable new platform for food quality control. When tested on commercially packaged chicken, fish and beef meat samples that were left to age, the team found that their e-nose’s ‘deep convolutional neural network’ AI algorithm predicted the freshness of the meats with a 98.5% accuracy. In comparison, the prediction accuracy of a commonly used algorithm to measure the response of sensors like the barcode used in this e-nose stood at 61.7%. Just like how gases produced by decaying meat bind to receptors in the mammalian nose, the 20 bars in the e-nose’s barcode act as its receptors. Each bar is made of chitosan embedded on a cellulose derivative and loaded with a different […]

New funding recognises rural sector’s strong focus on sustainability

The Government’s investment of more than $6 million into farmer-led projects to improve water health in Canterbury and Otago reinforces the important sustainability work already undertaken by the rural sector says Canterbury Employers’ Chamber of Commerce Chief Executive Leeann Watson. Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor has announced that the funding will be spent on helping farmers improve the health of rivers, wetlands, and habitat biodiversity in the two regions, as well as improving long-term land management practices. Four farmer-led catchment group Jobs for Nature projects have been allocated between $176,000 and $2.3m over the next three years, including $362,000 for a North Otago sustainable land management riparian project, $2.2m for the Tinaku project in Ellesmere and $176,000 for the Pomahaka wetland restoration project. An additional $2.9m will go towards helping about 300 Hurunui farmers work towards land and water improvements through the application of farm environment planning and sustainable land management practices. Ms Watson says the funding for the environmental improvement work is recognition of the significant work undertaken by the rural sector to date. “The majority of farmers are very focused on improving and protecting their land for future generations, and many have been early adopters of environment management plans for the last seven or eight years, so it is good to see this recognised through this funding support. “Environmental stewardship is also an important area in terms of securing market access for food and fibre, so this funding will play a role in helping to boost our agriculture exports – a key economic driver for the region, which was particularly evident through COVID.” Ms Watson says the Government’s prioritisation of sustainability issues sends a strong signal that this issue has not been overlooked in the COVID environment. “Preserving the health of rivers, wetlands, and habitat biodiversity has always been […]

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Energy-saving technology a first for sheep and beef industry

Alliance Group is investing in a range of initiatives to improve its environmental footprint including a heat pump to reduce diesel use. The new energy-saving high temperature heat pump at the co-operative’s Nelson plant, which will help cut carbon emissions, recycles waste heat from the plant’s refrigeration systems. A first for the New Zealand sheep and beef processing industry, the heat pump has been installed in collaboration with the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA). Meanwhile, Alliance is also examining fuel options for its other plants. It is currently looking at upgrading the existing boiler at its Mataura plant in Southland to provide a number of benefits including improvements to emissions and efficiency, and considering further opportunities for other sites in the future. “Alliance has a comprehensive sustainability programme in place to improve our impact on the environment and we have the financial strength to invest in these improvements,” says Alliance Group chief executive David Surveyor. “We recognise we have to play our part and improve our environmental footprint. Our customers and consumers have high expectations for how the co-operative manages the natural environment and they also expect transparency and ethical food production. “As a 100 per cent farmer-owned co-operative, we are committed to meeting high standards of environmental practices and we are constantly looking ahead to make sure our practices allow us to be in business for the long term so we can continue to support our farmers and rural communities. “It is fantastic that the high temperature heat pump makes sound environmental sense and good business sense too.” Alliance’s seven processing plants, which employ almost 5,000 people at peak season, have annual performance targets for fuel and electricity use, which make up the majority of the co-operative’s annual emissions (107,877 tonnes of CO2 equivalent). “We regularly monitor our […]

Launch of New Zealand Food Network set to bolster support for thousands of Kiwis living with food insecurity

With many New Zealanders facing increased financial hardship as a result of Covid-19, national levels of food insecurity have risen sharply in recent months – and rose further when the wage subsidy scheme concluded in September. Now, a new venture is set to provide much-needed additional support to the hundreds of community organisations around the country that are working overtime to meet this growing need. The New Zealand Food Network (NZFN) will enable food hubs – such as food rescue organisations, iwi and charities – to expand their positive impact in the communities they serve, and beyond, by transforming supply chain processes to create better efficiency and synergy. The NZFN will act as a centralised distribution hub, collecting and safely storing bulk food donations at its Auckland-based warehouse, with food then able to be requested on an as-needed basis (and at no cost) by food hubs around the country, without compromising their existing supply channels. Donations will include not only surplus and rescued food, which would otherwise go to landfill – but also bulk donations of saleable product from a community of generous donor partners. Providing a comprehensive and streamlined solution to connect supply and demand, the NZFN also promises to eliminate the issue faced by many community organisations of a lack of on-site storage infrastructure, which can often see them having to turn away large food donations. The amount of food made available to any single organisation will depend on supply, the levels of deprivation or food insecurity in the communities they serve, coupled with their storage capacity. New Zealand Food Network founder, Deborah Manning, says the launch marks the culmination of over two years of planning and preparation – with efforts expedited from the start of lockdown, to help meet the new wave of demand caused by the […]

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