Is augmented reality the future of farming?
Imagine a farmer being able to tell a paddock’s pasture cover and dry matter content just by looking at it, or accessing information about a cow’s body condition score in the same way.
Dairy customers around the world are demanding transparency, wanting to know about the sector's products and services, and what it is doing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, says foresight practitioner and strategist Melissa Clarke-Reynolds.
Addressing dairy farmers at a recent DairyNZ Farmers' Forum in Cambridge, Clarke-Reynolds highlighted her optimism in dairy being able to position well, while responding to the changing farming landscape. She also spoke last week at the Canterbury Farmers' Forum.
"We are coming into a time of turbulence, where we are under pressure to reduce our emissions. Part of this challenge is looking at what premiums we can add to milk, to gain a higher price and provide what the customer is asking for," she says.
"Our farmers produce artisan milk at volume. This is milk that is from grass-fed cows, in the open country, and produced by farmers that care for their animals, people, communities and country.
"We need to make these benefits and 'natural-ness' at the forefront of our products, in a world where milk will be made cheaper and better by technology in the future.
"Dairy is the backbone to our economy, and we produce milk well. But now is the time to prepare for the disruption that is coming in the next 10 years and consider how you will shift to differentiate your individual businesses."
DairyNZ chairman Jim van der Poel also emphasised that New Zealand continues to contribute significantly to the economy, generating $22 billion in export earnings in the 2021/22 season.
"Our dairy products today are highly valued by our global customers. They know them to be safe, of high quality and produced to a high standard," Jim says.
"This was no fluke. New Zealand dairy farmers are some of the most innovative in the world. We have always had challenges, but over the years a combination of farmer innovation and science has driven us forward and will continue to help as we face difficult challenges."
Foot and Mouth Disease outbreaks could have a detrimental impact on any country's rural sector, as seen in the United Kingdom's 2000 outbreak that saw the compulsory slaughter of over six million animals.
The Ministry for the Environment is joining as a national award sponsor in the Ballance Farm Environment Awards (BFEA from next year).
Kiwis are wasting less of their food than they were two years ago, and this has been enough to push New Zealand’s total household food waste bill lower, the 2025 Rabobank KiwiHarvest Food Waste survey has found.
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DairyNZ says its plantain programme continues to deliver promising results, with new data confirming that modest levels of plantain in pastures reduce nitrogen leaching, offering farmers a practical, science-backed tool to meet environmental goals.
According to the most recent Rabobank Rural Confidence Survey, farmer confidence has inched higher, reaching its second highest reading in the last decade.
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