NZ scientists make breakthrough in Facial Eczema research
A significant breakthrough in understanding facial eczema (FE) in livestock brings New Zealand closer to reducing the disease’s devastating impact on farmers, animals, and rural communities.
AgResearch scientists are looking into how common pests in New Zealand are fighting back against traditional measures to control them – and whether it all comes back to evolution.
Principal Scientist at AgResearch, Professor Stephen Goldson, is working with his colleagues in an area that has serious implications for farming in New Zealand, and an impact of hundreds of millions of dollars for the economy.
“What we are learning is that we can’t take the successful classic biocontrols we have used for granted, as unexpected things can happen,” Professor Goldson says.
“It’s similar to the situation with antibiotic resistance. The more we know about it, the more we know what to look out for and the more clues we have as to what to do about it.”
The leading example is the Argentine stem weevil, the worst pest when it comes to ryegrass - the most common grass on New Zealand farms.
For the last two decades, this pest has been controlled by a tiny South American wasp, which was first introduced as a biocontrol agent in the early 1990s by Professor Goldson and his colleagues.
For about eight years the wasp parasite was highly successful in knocking back the weevil, but since then its effectiveness has been in decline, and researchers have noticed a major resurgence in weevil numbers.
Professor Goldson says a lot of research by AgResearch and its partners, including those at Lincoln’s Bio-Protection Research Centre, is now pointing to the weevil having evolved to successfully evade the wasp.
“Based on the results so far, it seems the parasite has been so successful it has driven the weevil into a place where it has evolved resistance. The issue now is that it could also happen with other pests such as the clover root weevil.”
The research into the loss of effectiveness of the biocontrol agent – possibly through resistance - is continuing.
Profitability issues facing arable farmers are the same across the world, says New Zealand's special agricultural trade envoy Hamish Marr.
Over 85% of Fonterra farmer suppliers will be eligible for customer funding up to $1,500 for solutions designed to drive on-farm efficiency gains and reduce emissions intensity.
Tighter beef and lamb production globally have worked to the advantage of NZ, according to the Meat Industry Association (MIA).
Groundswell is ramping up its 'Quit Paris' campaign with signs going up all over the country.
Some farmers in the Nelson region are facing up to five years of hard work to repair their damaged properties caused by the recent devastating floods.
Federated Farmers is joining major industry-good bodies in not advocating for the Government to withdraw from the Paris Agreement.
OPINION: Labour leader Chris 'Chippy' Hipkins is carrying on the world-class gaslighting of the nation that he and his cohorts…
OPINION: The huge success of former Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson's new TV show, Clarkson's Farm, and the boost it…