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Overseer appoints Chief Scientist

Overseer has appointed Dr Jacquie Harper (pictured) as its first Chief Scientist as it invests in improving OverseerFM software for farmers and growers. Overseer Chief Executive Dr Caroline Read said the appointment of a Chief Scientist reflects Overseer’s commitment to transparent and scientifically robust development of the tool. “We want to work across the science sector to ensure credibility of the science behind OverseerFM and to support ongoing capture of new science innovation into the software. “It is important that we strike the right balance between ensuring scientific rigour and incorporating new innovation to support New Zealand farmers to achieve the environmental outcomes asked of them.” Dr Harper is leading Overseer’s science strategy and will be focused on embedding a robust, evidence-based science framework that integrates agricultural and environment science and innovation into OverseerFM’s model development pipeline. She will also strengthen engagement with science and industry so Overseer can ensure it remains the best modelling tool for New Zealand’s primary sector. Dr Harper brings extensive expertise in science strategy, evaluation and translation to the role. She has led science and science evaluation across a range of disciplines, including biomedicine, chemistry and engineering and is a current member of the National Animal Ethics Advisory Committee. “The science in this area is rapidly evolving and we need to ensure the continuous improvement of the OverseerFM tool is supported by a transparent and scientifically rigorous process for translating science into practice,” says Dr Harper. “Proactive two-way science and industry engagement is vital to ensure the agricultural and environmental sectors can have confidence in OverseerFM. “The Overseer science strategy will concentrate on engagement, science uptake and evaluation to deliver this balance. “In this first phase, the engagement will focus on working with the sector on the co-development of our science. We will also be […]

Supporting Rural Youth and Adult Literacy

The New Zealand National Fieldays Society has made a considerable donation to the Rural Youth and Adult Literacy Trust which provides free tuition to isolated rural adults and teenagers who struggle with reading and writing. The donation of $20,000 was made in recognition of the donated hours that the Society’s members and volunteers give during Fieldays and Equidays and was presented at the Society’s annual dinner and awards evening. Trustees Jo Poland and Barry O’Donnell represented the Trust on the night receiving the cheque from Society CEO Peter Nation. “We are really proud to be supporting such an important cause by presenting this donation to the Rural Literacy Trust,” says Nation. “They provide great opportunities to our rural communities and we’re honoured to be able to help make this easier for them to do so. Without the hard work of our overall team, the Society would not be able to help our community as we do every year.” The Rural Youth and Adult Literacy Trust were chosen as recipients of this donation by the Society’s staff, members and volunteers who voted on one of three charities who had applied for funding from the Society. Supporting charitable activities has been the New Zealand National Fieldays Society’s vision and each year the Society gives back to a variety of great causes through educational grants, research scholarships, charitable donations and various sponsorships. In 2019 a charitable activities committee was created within the Society to boost the focus and involve the staff and volunteers in the decisions of where to allocate an approved annual budget to support charities that are making a difference in the rural sector. About the New Zealand National Fieldays Society The New Zealand National Fieldays Society was created in 1968 to bring town and country together and to advance agriculture […]

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New chief executive appointed at Meat Industry Association

The Meat Industry Association (MIA) has appointed Sirma Karapeeva as the organisation’s new chief executive. Ms Karapeeva, who is currently MIA’s Trade and Economic Manager, has been with the trade association since 2015. Prior to the MIA, she has held a variety of trade, policy and regulatory roles at the Ministry for Primary Industries, the Ministry of Business, Innovation, and Employment and the former Ministry of Economic Development. Ms Karapeeva has a Bachelor of Business Studies, First Class Honours, from Massey University, Palmerston North. She succeeds Tim Ritchie, who is retiring after 12 years in the role. John Loughlin, chairman of MIA, said: “MIA is pleased to be able to appoint someone of Sirma’s calibre. She has built up important relationships across government and the industry and this will be vital as we collaborate with others to advance the interests of the red meat sector and New Zealand’s wider primary sector. “Sirma has a strong understanding of the red meat sector’s priorities and challenges, practical experience and understanding of the international trade environment, negotiations and agreements and expertise in policy development. “I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Tim Ritchie for his service to the meat processing and exporting industry. He has made an outstanding contribution and we wish him well in his retirement.” Ms Karapeeva said: “The red meat sector is operating in an increasingly complex environment and faces a number of challenges both domestically and internationally. “I am looking forward to supporting the sector to capture opportunities and position the industry as an innovative and progressive producer and exporter of safe, high quality food. Meat processing is the country’s largest manufacturing industry and makes a significant contribution to New Zealand.” She begins the new role in April.

Dairy farmer’s gym is no ordinary bootcamp

Bootcamp farmers – Kane and Nicole Brisco pictured with their son Parker and daughter Ahli. They named their children after boxers Joseph Parker and Muhammad Ali, but in their daughter’s case spelt Ahli to ensure her name was not mispronounced Ali. In the vast swathe of green pastures that make up much of South Taranaki there’s a bootcamp gym on a dairy farm that cares for more than buff bodies. It is where the heavy lifting can involve helping a mate to de-stress, just as much as heft a fence post. Welcome to dairy farmer Kane Brisco’s unique approach to not only keeping himself farming fit, but also helping others in his remote close-knit community of Ohangai to build their fitness – and overall wellbeing. “I’m a believer that you grow in mind and body when you face a few physical challenges and put yourself through a bit of discomfort,” he says. “This means when life throws one at you, you can dig a couple of tools out of the box to deal with the issue.” This 32-year-old sharemilker, husband and father of two knows about physical fitness, having spent his late teens and early 20s in the boxing ring and playing rugby, both for the Taranaki Under 20s and 100-plus senior games for the Border Rugby Club in Waverley. But what about mental wellbeing – something farming strong men and women are today only just learning to talk about? Kane Brisco sees that physical fitness and mental fitness are inextricably intertwined. He realised this during his sporting years when the training and mentoring he received made him feel good, both physically and mentally. Today, the exercise programmes he develops for people attending his bootcamp sessions aim to condition minds as well as bodies. While he had a fair idea […]

DairyNZ to Te Papa: We’re not mad, we’re just disappointed

“It’s incredibly disappointing to see our national museum Te Papa reinforcing an overly simplistic anti-farming narrative that negatively impacts the public’s perception of New Zealand farmers and the dairy sector” DairyNZ Chief Executive Dr Tim Mackle says. “The water in their display is not reflective of what your average farm stream in NZ would look like. If you don’t believe me, you just need to look at the countless videos and pictures farmers have posted to social media to correct the perception. “Farmers were right in demanding to know when and where this water was taken from. Te Papa have since confessed that the water wasn’t actually from a farm at all but was made up in a back room using brown dye. “It’s not just about the quality of the water in the bottle either” Dr Mackle added. “The imagery on the bottle of a cow standing in water defecating is highly deceptive and entirely out of step with the reality of dairy farming in New Zealand today where we are proud to have fenced off 98.3% of waterways in recent years. “Farmers who have done the right thing and voluntarily invested their time and their money to fence off waterways and plant riparian strips deserve better than this from their national museum. “Dairy farmers have fenced over 24,744km of waterways. Under the Sustainable Dairy Water Accord New Zealand dairy farmers have achieved some fantastic results: 98.3% of waterways have been fenced on dairy farms to keep cattle out, 100% of stock crossing points have bridges and culverts and 100% of farms have been assessed for effluent management practices. “The situation is all the more disappointing because it was only last week that we hosted our 7th annual Dairy Environment Leaders Forum dinner at Te Papa to celebrate the […]

Science New Zealand Awards honour Plant & Food Research scientists

A team that has developed a ground-breaking wildfish harvesting system, a leading environmental scientist and an emerging plant geneticist from Plant & Food Research were amongst the 21 scientists and research teams recognised at Science New Zealand 2018 National Awards at Parliament in Wellington. The Precision Seafood Harvesting (PSH) Team* is the recipient of the Plant & Food Research Team Award. The team has created and developed a world-leading technology that is changing the way New Zealand fishes – the Modular Harvesting System (MHS). It answers the need for a more environmentally-sustainable way of fishing that maximises quality and limits impact to non-target catch. The development of the system put the needs of the fish at the centre of the design process, using the team’s deep understanding of fish physiology and behaviour to allow fish to be landed alive. This allows non-target catch to potentially be returned to the sea, and delivers fish that are less stressed and fatigued in better condition for export. Through the PSH Primary Growth Partnership, a collaboration was formed between Plant & Food Research, three seafood companies (Moana, Sanford and Sealord) and the Ministry for Primary Industries to commercialise the MHS. The MHS has since received landmark approvals from Fisheries New Zealand for use in some inshore and deepwater fisheries with species that account for 57% of the country’s $650 million finish exports. Dr Brent Clothier has been presented with the Plant & Food Research Lifetime Achievement Award. As a world-leading soil and water scientist with 44 years of research experience, Dr Clothier has enhanced our understanding of the natural capital that the environment provides to grow our crops and to make informed land use decisions. His work on water footprinting, soil science and climate change has prepared our primary production systems for tomorrow’s challenges. […]

Shot by James Griffin of Edgeline Photography | www.edgeline.co.nz

High recognition of strong contribution to the dairy sector

DairyNZ congratulates passionate environmentalist, Taranaki dairy farmer Trish Rankin, on becoming the 2019 Fonterra Dairy Woman of the Year. “This is a very well-deserved recognition of Mrs Rankin’s commitment to dairying, her passion for environmental work on farm and the multiple roles she plays in the sector and community,” DairyNZ chief executive Dr Tim Mackle says. “We are very lucky to have Mrs Rankin involved in a number of key initiatives with us that are making a difference.” Mrs Rankin is a DairyNZ Dairy Environment Leader (DEL) – a group of farmers who work to achieve better outcomes for the environment and farming. They make things happen in many areas such as water quality and assist other farmers to improve their environmental performance. They are active in their communities at grass-roots level in different ways, such as on boards and local committees. Mrs Rankin is the chair of the Taranaki DEL group. Among a wide range of roles, Mrs Rankin is a contractor to DairyNZ as a Dairy Women’s Network module developer, a NAIT technical user advisor, and is involved in the Dairy Industry Awards. In 2018 she was elected onto the National Executive for the NZ Dairy Awards and last year was selected as a DairyNZ Climate Change Ambassador as part of the Dairy Action for Climate Change. DairyNZ Climate Change Ambassadors are a group of 15 farmers throughout the country who work with farmers to build their understanding of climate change, and they also provide a farmer voice. “Mrs Rankin is always involved in things that are going to benefit the dairy sector, the environment and the community,” Dr Mackle says. “She is also keenly interested in contributing to the public perception of dairying.” As well as being a part-time teacher, Mrs Rankin and her husband Glen sharemilk […]

The Instagram effect

How social media is changing the food and beverage plant Starbucks recently sold a limited edition unicorn frappuccino for five days. Companies wouldn’t expect such a short timespan to have a significant impact on their customers, but the brightly colored beverage had more than 1.3 billion impressions on Twitter and 150,000 posts were tagged with #unicornfrappuccino on Instagram. Here, Darcy Simonis, ABB’s food and beverage industry network leader, looks at how the impact of social media is changing the priorities of food and beverage managers. Anyone who uses social media will know how prevalent pictures of food are. With 178 million photos tagged with #food on Instagram and research showing that a third of millennials regularly post pictures of their food on social media, food and beverage companies are waking up to the idea that the aesthetic of their food counts. Taco Bell’s chief innovation officer Liz Matthews says that now, when considering a new menu item, the food development team considers how the item will look in photos. With trends such as freakshakes — milkshakes with obscene amounts of cakes and cookies on the top — spreading across many restaurants, the more Instagram-friendly the item, the better it is for the promotion of the company. This change in the food and beverage industry is not only having an impact in cafes and restaurants, but also in the factory. More and more food and beverage manufacturers are now considering the social media aesthetic of their products. While they may not be mass producing rainbow bagels to sell at supermarkets, manufacturers may now be reconsidering the visual appeal of their products, including the packaging products are sold in, to promote more images on social media. As manufacturers start to reconsider their approach to the appearance of their products, they will expect […]

Riot Foods success defies doubters

In 2013 when Ryan Kamins took a brown paper bag with his home-made Paleo cereal to the local health food shop to see if it would sell, he had little idea that it was the beginning of a business that is forecast to sell over $2 million in product this year. Along with Art Green, Ryan Kamins has successfully established Riot Foods, a new generation food business, now in its 5th year. They have an unshakeable commitment to producing wholefoods that are free from harmful ingredients and making wholefoods accessible to mainstream consumers. Under the Riot Foods umbrella sits CleanPaleo, Poppy + Olive and WholeFoods Manufacturing. The flagship brand, CleanPaleo, has a range of 20 products, including breakfast blends, protein powders, biltong and bread, with more products set to launch in 2018 (most of which have been requested by their major retail partners). It’s a premium brand, characterised by products that are free from gluten, grains, dairy, preservatives and additives and is the leading Paleo brand in New Zealand. CleanPaleo is stocked Nationwide in Countdown as well as over 50 other independent stores. It is also selling to Australia, with 10 new stores coming on board every month, and Amazon U.S.A., who recently awarded CleanPaleo Manuka crunch breakfast blend their Amazon Choice award. Earlier this year Riot Foods purchased Poppy and Olive, a niche range of nut butters- which features Smooth Almond, Crunchy Almond, Cashew Almond and Chocolate Hazelnut. All the products are made using only wholefood ingredients and are high in protein and free from processed sugar and are of course gluten free, vegan and paleo approved! At purchase, the business was selling less than $2,500 per month of product. 9 months later, and after a re-brand, Poppy + Olive is now selling more than 6x that, with negotiations […]

Primary ITO launches new online study options

New Zealand’s largest industry training organisation will now offer business management qualifications online to help develop future leaders across all primary industries. The Primary Industry Training Organisation (Primary ITO) has announced five new NZQA qualifications which can be completed entirely online, including several national certificates and national diplomas in business plus a Bachelor of Applied Management. Primary ITO is partnering with the Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology (CPIT) to provide the e-learning platform, giving greater study options to those who are working in New Zealand’s agriculture, horticulture, food processing, seafood, equine and sports turf industries. Primary ITO Product Manager, Sue Masson, says Primary ITO has been keen to provide online qualifications for quite some time, and more programmes will be available in the next 12 months. “Strategically we’re trying to expand the range of options that are available for our clients so we can better meet their different learning needs,” Sue says. “We are investigating more short courses, more online learning and are also looking to re-launch some of our core training programmes as we move towards the revised New Zealand Certificate Qualifications framework.” CPIT’s online delivery platform is innovative, easy to use, and has a proven track record, Sue says. “We’re excited to partner with them and leverage our joint educational IP to help Primary ITO clients embrace the flexibility that e-learning offers.” The five new business management qualifications will teach key skills that are transferrable across all primary industry sectors within New Zealand and OECD countries. “They’re ideal for someone who is a 2IC manager, supervisor, team leader, lead hand, PA, EA or already working in some type of leadership or office management position,” she explains. “It gives people who are aspiring to become a leader the opportunity to learn about issues such as performance management, conflict management, […]

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