Field Notes Issue 615 Field Notes Issue 615 Field Notes Issue 615

[14^th July 2022]

Over the weekend in Whangārei, Auckland Young Farmer Tim Dangen won the 54^th FMG Young Farmer of the Year – Congratulations Tim and to all other contestants for taking part. Professor Derrick Moot from Lincoln University who leads the NZD$8.1 million Hill Country Futures project which aims to future-proof NZ’s hill country farms has advised farmers that rotational grazing is better than deferred grazing in the long term. Some concerns have been raised regarding Ministry for Primary Industries new fishing rule that would allow the Ministry to make decisions without public consultation.

US-founded tractor company Monarch Tractor have opened their first office in Hyberabad India, in an aim to secure a foothold in the Indian Agriculture sector with the world’s first fully electric tractor. UK-based agricultural biotech company Tropic Biosciences has raised USD$35 million to aid in developing new tropical crop varieties capable of enduring climate-based challenges including bananas, coffee, and rice. In food trends, according to the Belgium Burger King’s Marketing Manager Vic Dresen, one in three whopper burgers sold in Belgium is vegetarian.

Federated Farmers urges extreme vigilance on foot-and-mouth disease [11 July, The Country]

As Indonesia battles with cattle foot and mouth disease (FMD) outbreak, Federated Farmers NZ urges anyone who is returning from overseas recently to keep away from farms for at least a week. FMD is known to survive for 48 hours on footwear and would likely cause significant damage to the local agriculture sector if an outbreak were to occur.

Tags: Biosecurity, International

Southland oat milk producer gets Govt boost [11 July, Farmers Weekly]

Southland-based oat milk producer New Zealand Functional Foods is to receive NZD$6 million from the government to develop a new processing plant for plant-based milk in Makarewa. Estimates predict the plant will produce up to 80 million litres of plant-based milk annually.

Tags: Alternative Proteins

New tech can tell when chickens say they are stressed [8 July, Stuff]

Researchers from Hong Kong and the UK have developed a tool capable of detecting the distress calls of farmed chickens. The device can successfully identify 97% of distress calls and will be used to detect if veterinary care is needed. Current limitations of the technology include pinpointing individual chickens rather than the general flock and sound differences between different breeds.

Tags: Poultry, Research & Development 

New Zealand's chocolate exports grow by 40% in three years [7 July, One News]

New Zealand chocolate exports have increased by 40% over the last three years, with some theorising that it may be the next high-value product New Zealand becomes known for internationally. Whitakers and Devonport Chocolates are anticipated to lead this trend.

Tags: Trade & Exports, Chocolate

Costa deploys robotic pollination [11 July, Produce Plus]

Australian fresh produce company Costa Group will use AI-powered robots from Israeli company Arugga AI Farming to pollinate one of their truss tomato greenhouses in Guyra, New South Wales. Typically, pollination is done by hand due to a domestic ban on using bumblebees inside greenhouses.

Tags: International, Research & Technology