LandWISE
LandWISE
is an Incorporated Society providing leadership, support and research
for the promotion of sustainable crop production in New Zealand.
LandWISE brings together farmers, industry and
research organisations to find and develop best practices and sustainable
solutions for the process vegetable and cropping sectors in New
Zealand.
Supported by the MAF Sustainable
Farming Fund and our Gold sponsors, membership is open to anyone
who shares our objectives.
Members
and interested groups receive newsletters and project updates and
get together in May each year for our Annual Conference. Field walks
and workshops are held throughout the year.
NEWS
LandWISE
on TV
Introducing
the LandWISE Advanced Farming Systems Project, and
Development
of Controlled Traffic Farming at Opou Station, Manutuke, Gisborne
Latest
newsletter: read about ....
• Advanced
Farming Systems Project
• Crop
sensing and variable rate application field talk
• 2009
LandWISE Conference
LandWISE
- Advanced farming systems project - a focus on climate change
In the last
3 months James and Dan have been meeting with 12 farmers around
NZ. These people have stepped up to be involved in the advanced
farming systems project.
The farmers
are spread through Hawke's Bay, Waikato , Manawatu, Pukekohe, Gisborne
and Canterbury . These people present exciting examples of advancing
with technology on their farms.
Cases being
developed on these farms range through advanced weed management,
(RTK-GPS guided mechanical weeding and GPS controlled spraying),
GPS controlled contouring and drainage and controlled traffic in
arable and vegetable crops. Other cases will focus on data management,
zonal management and implementing GPS into a farming system.
The common
theme is increasing profitability, and improving soil and farm resilience
in the face of climate change. Contact James to become involved:CLICK
HERE>
Crop
sensing and variable rate application field talk
In February,
LandWISE and the centre for precision agriculture at Massey, hosted
a talk by Jim Wilson of Soil essentials in Scotland at Hew Dalrymple
's property in Bulls. Jim was here as a speaker at the FLRC
workshop. He runs a farm in Scotland and works with farmers to bring
GPS , sensing and data management onto their farms. He presents
simple ways to bring technology into creating certain savings on
fertiliser, fuel and steel, on the farm.
Sensing
the ‘greenness' of a crop canopy, combined with sound agronomy,
can be a great tool for managing nitrogen application. The key to
this technique, is the efficiency with which the soil can deliver
the nitrogen to a given plant or part of the crop.
A variable
rate nitrogen system can be designed once any other limiting factors,
such as pH and water have been eliminated. This technology has been
adopted strongly in the UK because of caps on N fertilizer levels,
which mean that farmers are driven to apply correct levels depending
on site variability and plant needs.
To view
Jim's soil essentials website see:
www.soilessentials.com
At the
same session, Carolyn Hedley of Landcare, presented on recent work
with EM38 sensing which is being used to schedule variable rate
irrigation. This is done by determining water holding capacities
of soils using a combination of sensing and soils knowledge, then
programming the output of centre pivot irrigation, nozzle by nozzle,
according to these results.
More information
about variable rate irrigation is available at: www.precisionirrigation.co.nz
LandWISE
Conference 2009
The 2009
conference is in Havelock North on 13th and 14th May. It will address
Meeting the Challenges of Climate Change, through advanced farming
systems.
The program
will include topics on bringing technology into the management of
data, soil, water, weeds and nutrients. There will be a range of
local and international speakers with a focus on local cases where
technology is being applied in these areas. Sessions on variable
rate nutrient and water management will be of interest to many others.
Invite other interested growers or farmers along.
Members
enjoy a huge discount, so if you are coming to
the LandWISE conference and are not yet a member, consider signing
up, you will be in excellent company.
Download LandWISE News
as a pdf, Click
here>
To sign
up on-line:
www.landwise.org.nz/memberform.php
(one form
per person please).
If you would like to know
more about us or our activities, please contact LandWISE
for more information.
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