Olivia Webster is the Project Manager at LandWISE. She leads the Carbon Positive trial, a six-year project comparing different cropping systems, with a strong focus on improving soil health and building soil carbon. She oversees trial coordination, field operations, and data collection. Olivia completed a Bachelor of Science, majoring in Environmental Science at Massey University, with a focus on soils and earth science, which brings a valuable perspective to her work in the horticulture sector.

Olivia will give an overview of the Carbon Positive trial and outline the different management of the three treatments; Conventional, Hybrid, and Regenerative, during the fourth cropping season, in which butternut pumpkins were grown. She will present gross margin outcomes and describe how reduced nitrogen inputs in the Regenerative treatment maintained comparable butternut yields.

Co-founder and manager of LandWISE since 1999, Dan’s career is diverse, with a constant theme of sustainable use of land and water resources. His post-graduate studies included an MScTech in innovation Management and adoption in the primary sector, and a PhD investigating the potential of ultra-low energy electric weeding.  He brings experience across fresh and process vegetable growing, kiwifruit and arable production, to complement expertise in extension, soil health and efficient water management.

Past Chair of LandWISE, John Evans will discuss his farming career at “Soil Health for Profit” in May. Over more than four decades active farming, he’s seen a number of farming systems arrive and be replaced.

John was exposed to soil improvement at a young age as his parent’s developed half of the property from Gorse Broom Blackberry and Willows into a highly productive irrigated mixed system. After returning from Lincoln College and helping with the irrigation development the farm was sold, and another larger rundown property was purchased in Dorie.

Bill Ritchie is Product Specialist with Carrfields. Bill Ritchie was part of the team at Massey University that researched and developed the inverted-T no-tillage technology that was initially commercialised under the brand of Cross Slot and later Novag. The technology is now in more than 20 countries globally. He has accumulated more than 40 years of knowledge and experience with no-tillage systems in a wide range of environments. In his current role as Product Specialist with Carrfields Limited, he continues to promote reduced tillage systems for their environmental, cost and labour-saving benefits together with enhanced resilience to changing climate challenges. Bill will lead an in-field strip-till discussion on creating a seed environment from the plant’s perspective. What constitutes an “ideal seedbed”? What factors should be considered when choosing equipment?

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Dr Sally Anderson is the Scientific Services Manager for Market Access Solutionz Ltd and is based in Wellington. Sally has over 15 years’ experience designing, managing, and implementing science research programmes for New Zealand’s horticultural sector. This includes co-ordinating the Vegetable Research & Innovation Board, managing Summerfruit, Citrus and Onions R&D programmes.

Sally has a science background and holds a and PhD from the University of Auckland, with over 10 years of research experience in environmental ecology, molecular biology, and microbial ecology, with prior roles at NIWA (now Earth Sciences NZ) and the Wellington School of Medicine.

Leading the science services portfolio at MAS, Sally works to support clients with technical advice in plant health research, biosecurity, crop protection, export market access.

Dr Dirk Wallace is a Senior Researcher with the Foundation for Arable Research, bringing 15 years of experience investigating how on‑farm decision‑making shapes profitability and environmental performance. He is passionate about building great soils that work for growers and improving understanding of the relationships between soils, crops, and profit.

 His research interests have led to a role in developing a programme of work to support the recovery of annual cropping systems following Cyclone Gabrielle. Funded by MPI, Vegetable Research & Innovation, and FAR, this programme engaged local experts to support and learn from growers as they navigated recovery. The project focused on capturing grower experiences, documenting impacts and the management decisions made during recovery. By recording both successes and setbacks, the work aims to provide future growers with a practical, experience‑based resource to support faster and better‑informed recovery following extreme weather events.

Katherine Martin is a consultant at Perrin Ag, working across agronomy, farm systems, and environmental planning to support growers in improving productivity and strengthening environmental outcomes. Her work spans vegetable and pastoral systems, with a strong focus on soil health and regenerative practices at the paddock scale, alongside translating research into practical, farm‑ready insights for growers.

Intensive vegetable systems often leave soil bare between crops leading to nitrogen leaching and soil erosion. Crop stacking offers an innovative approach keeping living ground cover in place for the months that would otherwise be fallow.

Simon White is a farmer and entrepreneur based in Otane, Hawke’s Bay. He and his wife, Lou, have built a diverse operation with soil health at its core. They have a mix of arable cropping and sheep and beef finishing across 1100 hectares which has been in their family for three generations. Simon and Lou won the regional supreme title at the 2025 East Coast Ballance Farm Environment Awards, which recognised their focus on sustainability and business success built on diversification and innovation.