The politics of climate change
OPINION: The Financial Times, a major international newspaper, featured New Zealand on its front page at the beginning of June. It wasn't for the right reasons.
More than 150 soil scientists from around 30 countries will meet in Queenstown in April to discuss the ins and outs of testing soil.
The symposium, held every second year at different locations around the world, is being hosted in New Zealand for the first time in its 26-year history.
Dr Roger Hill, managing director of Hill Laboratories, has been instrumental in bringing the event to New Zealand. He said the symposium is unique because it is focused solely on the role of soil and plant analysis, a tool which underpins fertiliser use.
"With pressure on primary industries to increase production, the role of testing as a means of monitoring soil health is becoming increasingly important. But in recent years, it has also played a major role in understanding the risks intensive farming systems may pose to the environment," says Hill.
Jacqueline Rowarth Professor of Agribusiness at the University of Waikato's Waikato Management School will give the opening address explaining the role that science has played in developing New Zealand's economy – which is still based on primary production, which relies on soil and plant testing.
Rowarth says one of the most important topics to be debated at the symposium is the maintenance of soil carbon levels and organic matter, which are becoming global issues.
"Work that I have been involved in indicates that when it comes to increasing food production, maintaining soil carbon and reducing the loss of nitrogen – you simply can't have it all. A compromise in the nutrient loss threshold means a sacrifice in at least one of these areas.
Rowarth is also facilitating the pre-conference workshop on computer modelling.
"Soil and plant testing and analyses generate a vast quantity of data, and it is increasingly easy to put those data into the computer and have 'an answer' to a question spat out. This puts the onus on the computer controller to ask sensible questions, and even more pressure on modellers to create sensible models."
She says at the moment New Zealand is heavy on policy, and increasingly on legislation, that allows computer models to be the arbiters of legislative cut off.
This means policy makers can declare a threshold of nutrient loss that must not be exceeded because the model provides an absolute answer about the amount of fertiliser that can be used – but she said the creators of the model know that it is based on 'plus or minus' variability. Part of the modelling session will focus on how scientists, modellers, policy makers, industry personnel and practitioners can work to find an acceptable compromise.
OPINION: Ministry for Primary Industries' situation outlook for primary industries report (SOPI) makes impressive reading.
Sheep and beef farmers Matt and Kristin Churchward say using artificial intelligence (AI) to spread fertiliser on their sprawling 630ha farm is a game changer for their business.
Commercial fruit and vegetable growers are being encouraged to cast their votes in the Horticulture New Zealand (HortNZ) board directors' election.
A unique discovery by a Palmerston North science company, Biolumic, looks set to revolutionise the value and potential of ryegrass and the secret is the application of ultraviolet (UV) light.
A New Zealand company is redefining the global collagen game by turning New Zealand sheepskin into a world-class health product.
With further extreme weather on the way, ANZ Bank is encouraging farmers and business owners impacted by the recent extreme weather and flooding to seek support if they need it.
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