Scholarship winner ready to get scientific
Jonathan Jamieson, a Lincoln University student, has been named as the latest recipient of Ravensdown’s Hugh Williams Memorial Scholarship.
Lincoln University hosted senior management from both Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group and its subsidiary Oceania Dairy last week.
The purpose of the visit was to begin discussions and build on the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Lincoln University and Yili, signed in 2014.
Dr Xiaopeng Huang, deputy director of Yili's Innovation Centre, and Shane Lodge, quality and compliance manager of Oceania Dairy, headed the group.
Talks covered a range of topics, with a particular emphasis on value chains. The visit also included presentations and demonstrations on Lincoln University's 'paddock to plate' research.
"The outcomes from discussions held with key departments within Lincoln were extremely encouraging and revealed that the organisations are very much in tune regarding preferred outcomes from the MOU," says Lincoln University business development manager, Samuel Yu.
"We both share similar ambitions concerning the dual challenge of raising productivity and reducing environmental impacts through precision agri-technologies and on-farm best practice, as well as a shared desire to explore ways to enhance brand value via food safety and the development of new high-nutrition products.
"These topics are very much in the hearts and minds of consumers when they purchase foods; not just in China or New Zealand, but all over the world."
"We're extremely pleased to be working with a world leading food manufacturer such as Yili, and we see it as recognition of Lincoln University's global relevance as an important player in the primary sector," says Yu.
Pan Gang, chairman of Yili Group and the Vice-Chancellor of Lincoln University, Dr Andrew West signed MOU in front of President Xi Jinping of China and Prime Minister John Key, during the President's visit to New Zealand in November 2014.
Among the regular exhibitors at last month’s South Island Agricultural Field Days, the one that arguably takes the most intensive preparation every time is the PGG Wrightson Seeds site.
Two high producing Canterbury dairy farmers are moving to blended stockfeed supplements fed in-shed for a number of reasons, not the least of which is to boost protein levels, which they can’t achieve through pasture under the region’s nitrogen limit of 190kg/ha.
Buoyed by strong forecasts for milk prices and a renewed demand for dairy assets, the South Island rural real estate market has begun the year with positive momentum, according to Colliers.
The six young cattle breeders participating in the inaugural Holstein Friesian NZ young breeder development programme have completed their first event of the year.
New Zealand feed producers are being encouraged to boost staff training to maintain efficiency and product quality.
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