The $14 Million Legacy That's Helping Farmers Build Careers
Tayla Steele is in her fourth year of a Bachelor of Veterinary Science at Massey University in Palmerston North.
THE UPTAKE of precision agriculture is gradually improving, says Massey University’s professor of precision agriculture Ian Yule.
Different things are happening at different rates and an example of high uptake is auto steering that enables an operator to put a machine in exactly the right place easily.
Yule says devices to put fertiliser and spray in the right place are now commonly used, but the uptake of yield mapping is low, yet this technology offers significant benefits to farmers.
Precision agriculture can increase production by more efficient use of inputs, and it is important to target areas of a farm that are performing poorly.
“The old adage ‘right place, right time’ is the starting point for getting things right…. I don’t necessarily think precision agriculture is the whole answer, but if you take a measure and you don’t manage it effectively, then I think you are wasting your time.”
Yule says there is lots of evidence that the level of management on an average farm is not maximising productivity; precision agriculture can make a difference in such cases.
In dealing with nitrogen leaching into soil, housing cows indoors off the pasture is an option. – Peter Burke
Signing up to a benchmarking tool is not about competition, but about improving collectively, says Ximena Puig and Alvaro Luzardo who are 50-50 sharemilkers at a 164-hectare (effective) dairy farm in Eketāhuna in the Lower North Island.
A leading British farming politician says he's impressed with the positive attitude of New Zealand farmers that he met during his recent trip here.
OPINION: With 10,500 dairy farms, New Zealand continues to punch above its weight around the world.
The Southern Dairy Hub (SDH), which runs a demonstration farm for South Island farmers, has a new general manager.
Esther Guy-Meakin has been announced as the new chief executive of the New Zealand Meat Board (NZMB).
According to a progress report on the Aotearoa Horticulture Action Plan (AHAP), New Zealand's horticulture sector is making real progress on the big issues facing growers.

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