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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 […]

Launch of the New Zealand Agritech Story

New Zealand has a new story to tell, one that highlights the nation’s ingenuity, development of cutting-edge technology, and care for its people and place. The New Zealand Agritech Story provides a compelling way of promoting New Zealand’s agricultural technology internationally, to build awareness and preference for New Zealand solutions and ultimately help more New Zealand agritech businesses succeed on the world stage. The NZ Agritech Story includes a comprehensive suite of free promotional materials that highlight New Zealand’s leading edge in the sector. Peter Wren-Hilton, the executive director of Agritech New Zealand, said the story would make a key difference for export companies. “The sector is highly competitive, with companies from around the world all promoting their products. The New Zealand Agritech Story will provide us with a distinctive voice, a way to engage with customers and communities and explain to them why Kiwi companies are different, both in the way we have developed our innovative solutions and the way we operate as partners. “Agritech has a significant value for New Zealand’s export economy – it currently contributes about $1.5 billion to our export receipts – and campaigns like this will support its growth. “We’re excited to share the Story for the first time internationally this week as part of New Zealand’s presence at Ireland’s National Ploughing Championship, where we’ll also be showcasing some cutting edge Storytelling with the Agritech Mixed Reality experience.” The development of the agritech story fits within the framework of the New Zealand Story and was informed by the gathering of comprehensive market insights, to better understand current perceptions of New Zealand agritech – areas of strength, weakness or possible misconceptions. The Story is designed to help respond to these issues. Central to the New Zealand Story is the Māori concept of Kaitiakitanga (guardianship, for […]

ABB Ability Liquid Routing Library launched for food and beverage production

Process automation technology provides customers with optimal routing and ‘cleaning-in-place’ to increase efficiency and reduce costs. ABB has launched ABB Ability Liquid Routing Library which is a control engineering inventory for food and beverage manufacturers and those in other liquid related industries, including tank farms, pharmaceuticals and chemical resin plants. The new digital application draws on ABB Ability System 800xA, the most powerful Distributed Control System (DCS) automation platform in the market and will support routing and cleaning in place (CIP) functionalities needed for liquid-led production. It can be used wherever products are transported, stored or processed in tanks and lines and is particularly relevant to dairy, brewing, sugar, mills and edible oil application programming. Ready-made objects including libraries, typicals, and templates for product routing, with recipe-based CIP, track and trace, preventive plant maintenance, Excel-based bulk data tools are made available for customers through the library. Functionalities include alarm handling, alarm propagation between different units, queue handling for online production changes, control and supervision of process objects, interlocks and transfer of product and equipment settings like product codes, unit names and unit states. ABB Ability Liquid Routing Library will support food and beverage customers in their digitalisation journey. Customers are driving innovation in process automation, digitalising their production sites for greater speed, consistency and quality and Liquid Routing Library is an important piece of this jigsaw. Having a complete library for product routing, with ready-made objects and templates will allow users greater visibility and understanding of what is happening at each stage of the process. We know that routing and cleaning in place support are vitally important in food and beverage plants. This is built-in and at-any-stage ABB support from experts or additional documentation is available. Operators will be able to diagnose issues quicker than before and have solutions ready, […]

IrrigationNZ appoints Vanessa Winning as new chief executive

IrrigationNZ is delighted to announce that Vanessa Winning has been appointed as the organisation’s new chief executive starting on Monday 19th October, based in its new Wellington HQ. Vanessa is a strategic executive leader with over 20 years experience in the agriculture, banking and corporate sectors with excellent stakeholder management and engagement skills. Vanessa was most recently General Manager Farm Performance at DairyNZ, where she led a large team across the country to help farmers improve their businesses and reduce environmental impacts. Prior to DairyNZ, Vanessa spent 18 years in banking; trade; product development; marketing and communications. Vanessa has a commerce degree in economics and management, and a postgraduate degree in marketing. Vanessa has also just completed a contract for the Federation of Māori Authorities (FOMA) on a He Waka Eke Noa project. “The irrigation sector has much work ahead to continue building public trust and bridge knowledge gaps about the benefits that fair water management can bring to our communities and environment – we believe Vanessa is the right person to drive this,” says Keri Johnston, chair of IrrigationNZ. “Vanessa has the strategic vision to lead our sector in the right direction: she partners to achieve positive outcomes; has commercial experience to grow an effective organisation; understands the primary sector and has worked in it managing large teams; and can navigate the increasingly complex area of water management in New Zealand.” Commenting on her new position, Vanessa said: “I see so much potential for water in our country – its sensible harvesting, fair management, and pragmatic use for balanced outcomes across the economy, environment, and all of our communities, including mana whenua. I can’t wait to get stuck into the role!” Vanessa is a mum of two girls and during her time as a senior executive, has given time […]

KiwiHarvest urges Kiwis to waste less and feed more this World Food Day

Today, on World Food Day, Aotearoa’s largest food rescue organisation, KiwiHarvest is calling for New Zealanders to Waste Less and instead Donate Food to local organisations – as the economic impact of COVID-19 means that more Kiwis are struggling with food hardship than ever before. Blandina Diamond, KiwiHarvest General Manager, says that while initial donations from generous individuals and businesses have been a significant help, demand for food has remained consistently high, even since lockdown came to an end. Between April and September of this year, KiwiHarvest distributed over 1.2 million kgs of food – an increase of over 60% from the same time last year. Before COVID-19, KiwiHarvest distributed an average of 98,000kgs of food per month to its recipient agencies which rose to 216,000kgs at its peak in June, an increase of 120.4%. “The support we’ve received from businesses and individuals so far has made an enormous difference to those in need. In spite of this generosity, we’re going to see the fallout of COVID-19 being felt for a long time, and food insecurity in Aotearoa being an ongoing issue for many of our most vulnerable whanau and families. “At the same time, figures from Love Food Hate Waste estimate that each and every year Kiwis throw away over 157,000 tonnes of food which could feed over 337,000 people. It’s disheartening to see so much good food going to landfill which wastes growing and supply chain resources and creates greenhouse gases, when it could instead be redistributed to communities in need. “This World Food Day, we’re encouraging individuals and families to look at their own food choices and behaviours to see how they can reduce their food waste and instead donate food to their local food bank or organisation to help create a food secure Aotearoa,” says Diamond. […]

Agricultural equipment sector remains positive

The agricultural equipment sector remains in a positive mood throughout the country says the Tractor and Machinery Association (TAMA), which represents the sector in manufacturing, retailing and distribution. TAMA sales statistics for the year to date (September 30) are down around 18 percent compared with 2019‘s record-breaking year, however indicators remain positive as New Zealand enters the peak of another growing season. TAMA president Kyle Baxter said despite sales volumes being down in some equipment ranges, members were confident regarding business trading across dealerships and local equipment manufacturing. Customers were already discussing their machine requirements for autumn and spring 2021, which was a really encouraging sign, Mr Baxter said. “Everyone has benefited from a mostly favourable winter around the country. This weather was greatly appreciated by many customers in a year that has seen a never-ending list of challenges.” Mr Baxter said one big challenge still facing TAMA members was the continuation of international border restrictions. “Many TAMA members rely on overseas staff to fulfil a broad range of roles within dealerships, manufacturing and technical support roles. With these roles not being able to be filled from overseas during the season, and possibly beyond, TAMA is urging its members to look at other options available.” These options included COVID-19 government funding for businesses who take on new apprentices or retrain unemployed people from other sectors. The TAMA triennial employment survey, which came out in August, showed that the industry had 318 apprentices but needed 176 more. The survey also showed that around 25% of the workforce could likely retire in the next 15 years while only 32% of staff are aged under 30. “We want to attract more under 30s into our industry to help ensure sound succession planning. Given the huge uptake and integration of […]

ABB Ability Liquid Routing Library launched for food and beverage production

KC Wearable announces partnership with food factory for worker safety

The KC N901 Smart Helmet, developed by leading technology and innovation company KC Wearable, has been deployed at Africa’s largest instant noodle manufacturing plant, as food manufacturing groups look to protect their workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. KC Wearable has announced a partnership with Dufil Group, who are responsible for the production of Indomie, one of the world’s most popular Mi Goreng instant noodle brands, as well as oil and pasta brands Power and MiniMie. The KC N901 Smart Helmet will be used as a COVID-19 symptom detector, helping Dufil Group to protect staff at the factory. Nigeria has seen almost 57,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 so far. As new cases continue to emerge, interest the wearable thermal detection device has grown. The KC Smart Helmet allows users to screen multiple individuals for a key symptom of COVID-19 at once, helping to stop the spread of the virus. The helmet can detect fevers, the most prevalent symptom of the virus, with 96% accuracy. Unlike traditional static thermal cameras, the wearable headset improves the efficiency and flexibility of COVID-19 screening, enabling the user to freely move around an area. The helmet can scan up to 200 people a minute, making it well suited to public settings like transport hubs, hospitals or parks. The KC N901 Smart Helmet has been deployed at Dufil Group’s food manufacturing plant in Nigeria, allowing the company to screen employees for high fevers upon entry. Working in collaboration with KC Wearable, Dufil Group have tailored the smart helmet to fit the requirements of a factory setting. This includes personalised detection, enabling security staff to isolate outbreaks. Powered by sophisticated augmented reality technology, the helmet visor’s thermo-scan sensors show the temperature of people in real time. The helmet is effective within a five-metre radius, enabling the wearer to […]

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