North Island farmers are being invited to update their cropping knowledge at a new one-day field event on Thursday 10 December. The field day, run by FAR, is being held at FAR’s Northern Crop Research Site at Tamahere, near Hamilton.

CEO Nick Pyke says FAR, which carries out levy funded research and extension for the cropping industry, holds similar events in the South Island, but has not attempted an outdoor event of this scale in the North Island before.

“Generally, our Northern Crop Research Site hosts a series of smaller, subject specific, field days, but this year we have responded to the interests of our farmers and increased the scale and information to be presented at the event. The event will run to a similar schedule as our South Island Arable Research in Action event (ARIA), which is held at our mid-Canterbury research site every second year.

“Visitors on the day will have the opportunity to hear up to 12 presentations on subjects ranging from Overseer® and forage rotations, to slug control and precision agriculture. Each session will run twice, once in the morning and again after lunch, to allow those who are short on time to attend for only half a day and still have access to a range of topical speakers.

“The day will also provide a great opportunity to tour the Northern Crop Research Site, meet FAR staff and learn more about FAR’s crop research strategy.”

Mr Pyke says he hopes to see farmers and industry personnel from across the Waikato and beyond at the event.
“While this event is being held in the Waikato, the topics being discussed on the day will be of relevance to farmers from across the North Island. Around 400 people attended our last ARIA event in the South Island, and we hope North Island farmers will come along in similar numbers.”

The final programme is likely to cover the following topics:
1. Agrichemical resistance
2. Insect pest management
3. Weed control systems
4. Forages for Reduced Nitrate Leaching
5. Precision agriculture
6. Nitrogen and soil management
7. Biosecurity
8. Fertiliser spreader calibration

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