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Flowfresh hygiene credentials on show

Flowfresh was developed to meet a demand in the food and beverage industry for a floor that would withstand the sector’s unique challenges. Without an adequate finish underfoot, food and beverage plants were vulnerable to a long list of unwanted costs and problems. With an average life-span of approximately 15 years, food producers that have installed a Flowfresh finish know that the facility is protected for the long term against the costs and concerns of a failing floor. Lifecycle Cost Considerations The initially higher cost of installing a thicker, fit-for-purpose flooring solution can lead F&B businesses to opt for a cheaper alternative, however this logic often backfires and ends up costing the company more money over time. This point was exemplified by a formula on lifecycle cost considerations devised by Flowcrete Group Ltd.’s Technical Director, Grant Adamson. The equation takes the initial expense of a floor and adds to it annual maintenance costs, such as cleaning, repairs and upkeep as well as the price of replacing a failed floor, including the costs incurred by shutting down production. The formula is: Lifecycle Cost Considerations (LCC) Formula LCC = C + MPW + RPW The capital cost (C) of a project includes the initial capital expense for engineering, products and installation. Maintenance (M) is the sum of all yearly scheduled operation and maintenance associated with floor repairs. (R) is the replacement cost of a failed floor, including the financial impact of shutting down production. In some circumstances, the cost of a floor failure can be excessive when a food borne illness outbreak starts out as contaminant build-up in the hard to clean gaps and cracks of a deteriorating floor and from there goes on to infect produce en masse. This point was exemplified by the case of the cantaloupe producer Jensen Farms, […]

Leading scientist honoured for a career of outstanding contribution

Plant & Food Research Scientist Dr Jim Walker has been awarded the New Zealand Apple and Pear industry’s Outstanding Contribution Award. Dr Walker was presented the highly sought after accolade at the industry’s conference in Napier recently. New Zealand Apple and Pear board member, Peter Beaven, presented Dr Walker with the award and noted his long service and significant impact. Mr Beaven said Dr Walker was the brains behind the Integrated Fruit Production (IFP) programme introduced in the 1990s. IFP was a world first, and a huge departure from the then current practice around the world. “With IFP, growers started monitoring the numbers of harmful insects on orchards through pheromone trapping and introduced the use of targeted selective sprays when required. The IFP system was introduced across the entire industry in a remarkably short time due in no small measure to this man’s efforts. Today we take such systems for granted,” Mr Beaven said. Dr Walker was also instrumental in the next generation of orchard management – the Apple Futures programme, which further reduced residue levels on fruit and enabled the industry to tailor production systems of blocks within orchards to meet the phytosanitary and residue requirements for specific markets. “However, I rate Jim’s most significant contribution to our industry as making science easy to understand for non-scientists. The best science is useless if growers cannot understand it or know how to apply it in a commercial setting. Jim has always had the knack of explaining things in ways we laypeople can readily grasp”. Dr Walker was honoured to be the award recipient and said he is not yet ready to retire. “I have been really proud to serve this industry which I have been involved in one way or another since 1972. “I’ve worked in the industry for almost […]

Research to use bacteria in revolutionary ways

A new Lincoln Agritech research programme will find revolutionary ways of using naturally-occurring bacteria and fungi to increase the availability of nitrogen to plants and improve plants’ tolerance to stress. A second programme will work towards naturally removing ‘off’ flavours in wine. Lincoln Agritech is an independent multidisciplinary research and development company owned by Lincoln University. Biotechnology Team Manager Dr Richard Weld, who is leading the research, says the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment has awarded the programmes a combined $8.2m. “This is a notable achievement for a small organisation.” The first of the two projects will benefit the forestry and pastoral sectors by allowing pine trees and grasses to convert atmospheric nitrogen into plant-available mineral nitrogen in the same way that legumes such as clover do, and by improving the plants’ tolerance to stress. Dr Weld says this can be achieved by optimising the natural microbial communities associated with the plants, thereby creating new symbioses between plants, bacteria and fungi. “We will select bacteria that fix nitrogen and that enhance plant tolerance to stress,” says Dr Weld. “These bacteria will then be combined in symbiotic association with two fungi which naturally live within plants. “After this, the fungal-bacterial hybrids can be introduced to pine trees and perennial ryegrass. The combination will make the plants more resistant to stress and more able take up nitrogen.” Dr Weld says the five-year programme is world-leading, as no other researchers have attempted a triple symbiosis between fungi, bacteria and these plants. The research team from Lincoln Agritech, Lincoln University, Scion and AgResearch includes scientists who have been instrumental in developing fungal biocontrol endophytes. The team will work with commercial companies which are already producing and licensing fungal endophytes. The new fungal-bacterial hybrids will be added to their product lines. The second research […]

Irish dairy flows to New Zealand agritech

-Seaver Izatt / Business Development Manager / NZTE Europe Two themes that have had more than their fair share of negative press in the last few years – Europe and dairy. But here’s a good news story for a change, and the protagonist is the Emerald Isle itself, Ireland. Ireland is in the middle of a dairy boom. Two and a half years into a five-year industry plan, it is set to smash its ambitious targets set for 2020. When EU quotas were lifted in 2015, Ireland stated that it was going to increase milk output by 50 percent in five years. It is on track to deliver this result in just three. Whilst the Irish government is responsible for managing the delivery of this strategy, it is clear that the success lies in a cross-industry joined-up approach. And this was made blatantly clear on 19-21 September during the annual ritual of Ireland’s agricultural community, the National Ploughing Championships. Central government agencies, local government bodies, industry associations and farmers across Ireland were actively engaging with one another. Issues appear to be well-communicated top-down and bottom-up, shaping policy and farm behaviours. What does all this mean for New Zealand? Despite churning out huge dairy volume increases, Ireland still faces challenges – some of which New Zealand can help it overcome. There are a few caveats: New Zealand companies won’t play a major role in some localised issues – such as how to navigate the exit of Ireland’s largest customer, Britain, from the single market union of the EU; how to diversify product sales into new emerging markets; and how to create a “fair” policy to ensure more money is transferred back to the farmer rather than retained in high retailer margins. But New Zealand companies are well-placed to help Ireland […]

Artificial Intelligence to help wine profits flow

Artificial Intelligence has been making waves in many industries and is increasingly affecting life as we know it. Now the New Zealand wine sector is getting in on the act, with Lincoln Agritech Ltd developing a computerised system to make early-season predictions on the grape yield a vineyard is likely to harvest. “Grape growers and wineries spend a lot of money trying to predict their grape yield each year,” says Lincoln Agritech Optics and Image Processing Team Leader Jaco Fourie. “This currently involves hiring a large number of workers to manually sample grape bunches.” Lincoln Agritech is working on creating a more convenient system that uses electronic sensors to accurately count grapes. “The sensors will capture and analyse grape bunches within individual rows, and assess the number, sizes and distribution of grape bunches,” says Dr Fourie. “We’ll then feed this data into computer algorithms, which have been designed by the University of Canterbury, to predict grape yield at harvest time.” New data will be added to the system each year, leading to continuous improvements in the model’s accuracy, with the system’s predictive power improving over time as more data is gathered under different conditions. Dr Fourie says profitable wine production depends on early knowledge of the grape yield that is likely to be harvested each season. “Estimating the yield as soon as possible allows marketers to know how much wine will end up being produced.” The main focus of grape varieties for the study is Sauvignon Blanc, after which the team will identify how much technology development will be needed for Pinot Noir. The project is funded by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) and NZ Winegrowers. Collaborating partners include Plant and Food Research, Lincoln University, the University of Canterbury, CSIRO (Adelaide), NZ Winegrowers and local winegrowers […]

Bay of Plenty woman wins Young Grower of the Year

The future of our $5.6 billion horticultural industry is in excellent hands as shown by the talent of this year’s Young Grower of the Year: Erin Atkinson of Te Puke. Erin Atkinson, 30, technical advisor for Apata Group in Te Puke, was named Young Grower at an awards event in Christchurch tonight after a long day pitting her skills, knowledge and experience against four other finalists. She is the first woman to win the title, which is in its 11th year. Erin, who won the Bay of Plenty section back in February, also secured the national title of Young Fruit Grower tonight along with the best business, best innovation and best speech titles. Runner-up for Young Grower was Scott Wilcox of Pukekohe, who is also Young Vegetable Grower 2017, while third place went to Ben Geaney of Waimate. Erin has a Bachelor of Science in Horticulture and has spent most of her working life in the horticulture industry. She said she was extremely proud to have been named Young Grower, especially as the standard of the other finalists was very high. “It was an extremely challenging competition but I’ve really enjoyed meeting the other finalists and am looking forward to taking the award back to Te Puke.” The Young Grower of the Year competition is run by Horticulture New Zealand and sponsored by the Horticentre Trust. During the competition, all five finalists competed in a series of practical and theoretical challenges designed to test the skills needed to run a successful export-focused horticultural business. They also took part in a leadership panel discussion before delivering a speech on biosecurity in front of the judges at the awards dinner attended by 200 people. Judges looked for individuals who could make a difference in their sectors and the industry, going beyond great […]

Artificial Intelligence to help wine profits flow

Fonterra announces increase to farmer shareholders payouts

Fonterra has today announced a significant increase in total payout for its farmer shareholders and a solid overall operating and financial performance, as part of its 2017 Annual Results. The Co-operative has confirmed a final Cash Payout of $6.52 for the 2016/2017 season for a 100% share-backed farmer. This is made up of a Farmgate Milk Price of $6.12 per kgMS and a dividend of 40 cents per share. Revenue increased by 12% to $19.2 billion, with rising prices offsetting a 3% decline in volumes at 22.9 billion LME. Normalised EBIT of $1.2 billion was down 15% as a result of reduced margins across the business which also influenced net profit after tax, down 11% at $745 million. Chairman John Wilson said the Co-operative’s ability to maintain its forecast dividend despite the Milk Price increasing by 57% over the year and the impact of negative stream returns was an excellent result. “We will always need to manage variability across our Co-operative – both in global markets and in our local farming conditions. We’ve demonstrated our ability to deal with those conditions and deliver on our strategy again this year,” said Mr Wilson. “Over recent seasons, our farmers have made significant personal sacrifices to reduce costs through a sustained low milk price period. “As part of our continued business transformation, the Co-operative has also made a fundamental shift in the way it operates, continuing the strong focus on increased efficiency and developing new revenue streams. “Despite lower milk volumes due to poor weather in parts of the season, the business delivered a good result by prioritising higher value Advanced Ingredients and growing our sales of these in-demand and specialised products by 473 million LME this year.” Our Consumer and Foodservice business continues its strong performance. This year we sold more than […]

Research to use bacteria in revolutionary ways

In the picture: The Lincoln Agritech Biotechnology Group (from left to right): Dr Richard Weld, Dr Johanna Steyaert, International Intern Camille Vagner, Nicholas Glithero, PhD Student Thomas Flinois and Simon Lee. A new Lincoln Agritech research programme will find revolutionary ways of using naturally-occurring bacteria and fungi to increase the availability of nitrogen to plants and improve plants’ tolerance to stress. A second programme will work towards naturally removing ‘off’ flavours in wine. Lincoln Agritech is an independent multidisciplinary research and development company owned by Lincoln University. Biotechnology Team Manager Dr Richard Weld, who is leading the research, says the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment has awarded the programmes a combined $8.2m. “This is a notable achievement for a small organisation.” The first of the two projects will benefit the forestry and pastoral sectors by allowing pine trees and grasses to convert atmospheric nitrogen into plant-available mineral nitrogen in the same way that legumes such as clover do, and by improving the plants’ tolerance to stress. Dr Weld says this can be achieved by optimising the natural microbial communities associated with the plants, thereby creating new symbioses between plants, bacteria and fungi. “We will select bacteria that fix nitrogen and that enhance plant tolerance to stress,” says Dr Weld. “These bacteria will then be combined in symbiotic association with two fungi which naturally live within plants. “After this, the fungal-bacterial hybrids can be introduced to pine trees and perennial ryegrass. The combination will make the plants more resistant to stress and more able take up nitrogen.” Dr Weld says the five-year programme is world-leading, as no other researchers have attempted a triple symbiosis between fungi, bacteria and these plants. The research team from Lincoln Agritech, Lincoln University, Scion and AgResearch includes scientists who have been instrumental in developing fungal […]

Smashing the avocado production bottleneck

A method of supplying 500 times more avocado plants to industry than is currently possible has been invented by University of Queensland researchers. The new stem cell multiplication method could double avocado production in Queensland, as well as reducing the time it takes for new avocado varieties to reach commercial orchards from 10 years to three years or less. Professor Neena Mitter from the Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation, a UQ research institute supported by the Queensland Government, is leading the project. “At present, to supply new trees, the avocado industry follows the same process they have for the last 40 years, which is to take cuttings from high quality trees and root them,” Professor Mitter said. “However, this is a cumbersome, labour and resource intensive process, as it takes about 18 months from the cutting stage to having a plant for sale, which creates a huge bottleneck for nurseries across the globe in the number of trees that they can supply trees to growers.” Queensland produces 50 per cent of Australia’s high-value avocado crop, worth $460 million a year. However, the industry is hampered by a shortage of high-quality planting material and there is a backlog of plant orders until 2020. With funding from the avocado industry and Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, Professor Mitter’s team successfully developed a stem cell tissue-culture system that can supply 500 times more plants. The technology is non-GM and environmentally-friendly, requiring less land, water, fertilisers and pesticides. “Ten-thousand plants can be generated in a 10 square-meter room on a soil-less media,” Professor Mitter said. “This is a potential game changer for the avocado industry across the globe.” The Queensland-owned technology involves a secret recipe of media, light, temperature and other factors to grow and root multiple avocado plants from the shoot […]

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