Field Notes Issue 661

In Aotearoa, the 55th Fieldays had an attendance of 105,000 people, which was lower than pre-pandemic levels but up from last November/December Fieldays. DairyNZ has launched a three-year Sustainable Catchments programme in partnership with iwi and farmers to improve the health of catchments in both the North and South Island. The programme will involve trialling practical tools and interventions on-farm, such as constructed wetlands, to increase awareness and understanding of ways to improve water quality. The Ministry for Primary Industries released their June 2023 Situation and Outlook for Primary Industries report which has forecast that exports will hit a new record high of $56.2bn in the year to 30 June 2023. Higher than expected growth was experienced in dairy, seafood, and processed food exports.

In international news, the French government has secured a pledge from 75 major food companies, making up 80% of the foods consumed in France, to lower the cost of hundreds of products. Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire has specified that prices on pasta, poultry, and vegetable oil will be lowered. An international team of researchers has published a study in Nature Reviews Earth & Environment journal has revealed that irrigation accounts for 70% of global freshwater extractions from lakes, rivers and other sources, and totals 90% of global water usage. The review showed that irrigation has both positive and negative effects, such as cooling temperatures and changing agroecosystems, but also contributes to water depletion, runoff of agricultural inputs, and can impact precipitation. In Los Angeles, Netflix is launching its first pop-up restaurant called Netflix Bites, featuring dishes from acclaimed chefs of popular Netflix series. When opened on 30th June, the restaurant will create a live experience for fans allowing them to immerse themselves in their favourite shows.

Last week we released the 2023 KPMG Agribusiness Agenda, titled "Energising a World of Anxiety," the Agenda highlights the massive opportunities for New Zealand's food and fibre sector, but also notes a sense that people are struggling to connect to what that future looks like, it calls for a boost of hope and energy to move forward.

Click here to read the full agenda.

A first for photosynthesis-free food: Protein ‘made from air’ officially on the menu [19 June, CWN]

Finnish start-up, Solar Foods and The Lo & Behold Group-owned Fico in Singapore have partnered to create Solein Chocolate Gelato, the world’s first food produced without any connection to photosynthesis or agriculture. Solein is a novel microbial protein made from CO₂, air, and electricity using a bioprocess where microbes are fed with gases and small amounts of nutrients. It contains 65-70% protein, 10-15% dietary fibres, 5-8% fat, and 3-5% mineral nutrients. Solein has received regulatory approval from the Singapore Food Agency in October 2022 and can now be used and sold as a replacement for existing proteins in various foods.

Tags: Food Innovation

Otago to conduct national food waste audit [12 June, University of Otago]

The New Zealand government has commissioned the University of Otago to measure the amount of food going to waste. The project aims to be a complete study of food loss and waste throughout the food supply chain, encompassing domestically produced and imported products. Domestically produced foods including plants, animals, aquaculture, and fisheries will be measured from the point in time that they are ready to harvest. Researchers will approach farmers, producers, distributors, retailers, and hospitality businesses to obtain data on food waste and investigate where the waste ends up. The project is part of the government's efforts to achieve the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goal of halving per capita global food waste by 2030 and aims to provide a comprehensive assessment of the environmental, social, and economic impacts of food waste, and to help reduce food waste in the future.

Tags: Environment & Emissions

Work starts on wallaby-proof fence in South Canterbury [16 June, Farmers Weekly]

In South Canterbury, a $1.4 million fencing project has been initiated to protect the Mackenzie Basin environment from wallabies. Wallabies are an introduced pest that damage the environment, biodiversity, and economy by competing with livestock for food, damaging crops and trees, and contribute to erosion and poorer water quality. The 48km long, 1.3-meter-high fence will be made of purpose-built Australian-made wallaby exclusion netting and will be situated along the western border of Canterbury's wallaby containment area, along the Takapō River system from Lake Benmore through to Lake Takapō. The project is being funded by the Ministry for Primary Industries-led Tipu Mātoro National Wallaby Eradication Programme, which is investing heavily in research and improving wallaby detection at low levels while exploring new and improved control methods.

Tags: Biosecurity

Fieldays celebrates innovation [16 June, Rural News]

The Fieldays Innovation Awards were announced on Thursday night. The judges praised the high calibre of this year’s entrants and their willingness to take risks in the thriving innovation ecosystem. Winners included Waikato Milking systems with the ErgoPOD in the Prototype Award, which is aimed at providing a step change in the way milking cups are presented and managed in the milking shed. The Growth & Scale Award was won by Wilderlab who aim to protect and map our environment with environmental DNA monitoring. The awards also recognized the younger generation of innovators with the Fieldays Young Innovator of the Year Award, this was won by St Paul’s Collegiate School with their Capra Skin Goats Milk lip balm.

Tags: Food Innovation, Farmers & Producers

Stock class reductions cause for concern [19 June, Farmers Weekly]

Saleyards are experiencing reductions in stock classes as changes in farm sales, policies, and other trends have a skewing effect. Breeding ewes and young dairy-beef cattle are the main classes experiencing reductions. There has been increasing popularity on farms to buy in-lamb ewes, sending them to the processors on weaning; and then the farm purchases more ewes the next year to complete the cycle. This allows farmland to be used for more intensive purposes, such as fattening lambs. However, the popularity has increased so much that the increase in demand for lambs is occurring simultaneously with ewe numbers falling – without the ewes, there will not be any lambs. The saleyards are also experiencing a decline in the supply of dairy-beef calves due to no change in the minimal margins rearers have been receiving. PGG Wrightson regional livestock for Bay of Plenty, Simon Rouse, suggests a solution could be an increase in forward-contracted 100kg dairy-beef calves to provide surety for rearers margins and guaranteed supply at a fixed price for grower/finishers. 

Tags: Farmers & Producers