LandWISE 2024 – Rebuilding Our Soils

Havelock North – 15-16 May 2024

We are looking forward to our annual conference this week.
We will report on our current work with industry, researchers and growers
seeking out and trialing best ways to rebuild soil.
Our invited speakers will present alternative practices and novel ideas,
some perhaps fringe, but all looking to be mainstream, on a range of topics.

The key topics in 2024 are:

Carbon Positive – Regenerative Cropping
Alternative Pest Management
A year on – Cyclone impacts
Data capture to understanding
New Zealand Agritech
Novel Technologies

We welcome presenters old and new and are most excited by
the breadth and depth of knowledge they offer on many topics.
We also have a great range of practical demonstrations lined up for
viewing at the MicroFarm.

The draft programme is available now, and registrations are open.

Draft Programme

Our Presenters

Registration

We are delighted that Apatu Group is continuing their sponsorship
to allow secondary students free conference attendance, and that
for 2024 they have been joined by Vegetables NZ and Onions NZ
so an even larger cohort can attend.

We view this as a vital element, as such students are indeed the future of our industry,
and feedback from previous years has been very positive.

Discount for our Financial Members = pay for one day, get the other free. See you there!

Thanks to BASF Crop Protection and Hawke’s Bay Regional Council for continuing their Platinum Sponsorships. Both are long-term, loyal supporters and we are most grateful. Our other loyal supporters are also back with us, so please take time to look and give them your support in return.

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AGM Matters

The minutes are available to Full Members here

Financial Report

Key results were presented at the meeting – Full Members can download the Financial Report here

Chair’s Report

John thanked the Board for their involvement and contributions during the past year and thanked Sue for all her inputs while a Board Member. He noted that Alex had joined the LandWISE team as a staff member in addition to her Board role in which she will continue to serve her term. He wished Simon White a speedy recovery and hoped we would have him back on deck very soon.

John thanked Dan, Alex and Phillipa for their work over the year, and noted the start of the new Carbon Positive project and the partnership with the HB Future Farming Trust. He also gave thanks to the various sponsors of our projects and other activities, for which we are grateful.

Manager’s Report

Dan welcomed Alex to the staff and expressed gratitude for the impact she has already had, getting up to speed with projects quickly and taking on a lot of responsibility. Alex is the key contact for Carbon Positive operations, and also took on leadership of the Process Crop Nitrate trials and since February has been fully immersed in Cyclone Gabrielle site sampling work and coordinating efforts with AgResearch, Massey FLRC and Plant&Food. He also acknowledged Bridgette Haldane, the Callaghan Onnovation Summer Intern, and thanked her for her hard work especially helping out with the soil sampling for Carbon Positive and nitrate trials.

Dan summarised our various projects, noting all but one of the Process Crop Nitrate trial sites were wiped out by either Cyclone Hale or Cyclone Gabrielle despite three having been replaced. Carbon Positive has been a long time in gestation, and it is a relief to have the first season finally completed and the baselines set for the next 5+ of research. We were granted funding to pay for soil lab testing of a large number of sites affected by Cyclone Gabrielle, and have been active establishing sampling programmes in Hawke’s Bay, Gisborne and Northland. Dan explained that the contributions by many people and organisations has been overwhelming, but absolutely needed to support those so severely impacted.He aprticularly noted the work done by Alec MacKay and colleagues at AgResearch, Alan Palmer and colleagues from Massey’s FLRC, and the Gisborne District Council staff who sampled not only Gisborne, Tolaga Bay and Ruatoria, but also volunteered and sampled sites in Wairoa. LandWISE is part of a large consortium of CRIs, universities, councils, consultants, sector bodies and farmers working on studies to learn from this disaster. We hope to attract resourcing to enable a longitudinal study following the site we have baseline-measured to date, to develop revised best practice guidelines for anyone impacted by future events.

Board Positions

Sue Blackmore chose to step down due to an extremely high workload with events at Te Kupenga/EIT Hawke’s Bay. Sue nominated Chandré Honeth to replace her as the Research/Education Representative – seconded by Simon White.

Simon White was due to retire by rotation and offered himself for re-election. He was nominated by Simon Wilcox and seconded by John Evans

The two nominees equaled the number of vacancies as were thus duly appointed.

Subscriptions

The Board did not recommend a change to Annual Subscription rates, but did ask past members to register again. There has been a marked drop off in membership in the last two years, partly due to missing conferences and partly due to the new subscription system.

Chandré Honeth – New Board Member

Dr Chandré Honeth is Viticulture and Wine Science Lecturer at the Eastern Institute of Technology | Te Pūkenga (Hawke’s Bay). Chandré has a Doctorate in Viticulture from the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa. Her current responsibilities include the development and delivery of viticultural and research related courses, presented both in a “face to face” environment and online.

Her research career, focused by her interests in viticulture and the influence of terroir dynamics on berry characteristics, has included investigations into the impacts vineyard management practises, climatic factors and seasonal effects have on berry composition linking to wine organoleptic properties. 

Industry collaborations include with the Hawkes Bay Vine group (part of New Zealand winegrowers), The Bragato Research Institute, Plant and Food, Thoughtful Viticulture and a number of local Hawkes Bay producers. Working in and collaborating with industry has given her broad practical experience in vineyard maintenance and management – ensuring optimal berry development and ripening and wine production. 

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Friday 26 May 2023 – Green Shed, LandWISE MicroFarm, Hastings

Given the calibre of people who will be with us for LandWISE 2023, we are running a special workshop the day after the Conference. It seems an ideal opportunity to let farmers, researchers and industry get together to workshop where we are, and where we should be putting effort.

Topics

Horizons scan on what needs to be done.

• What are the problems? Farmer view-points
• What research have we been doing? Researcher updates
• What research we should be doing? General discussion
• What is the priority?
• What can/should be commercialised now?

Download the programme here

Cost: $75
To apply, please Contact Us:

This workshop is supported by AgResearch under their Herbicide Resistance Management programme.

The post The Future of Weed Control appeared first on LandWISE - Promoting sustainable land management.

This process has now moved to the website so when you log in you will need to select a membership type. Free is still Free! Full members signup online and will go through a payment process. This is set for annual renewal as an automatic reminder, and payment is made by Credit Card via Stripe. You’ll get invoices through the online system. We won’t be sending out invoices manually as we have in the past.

Remember, you need to be a current Full Member to access the Conference Discounts.

Membership is critical for an organisation like ours. Paid membership demonstrates to our funders that we have genuine support and helps us raise the money we need to undertake the projects and activities we do. So please, do sign up as a paid member if possible.

We know some of our long-term Full Members have been hammered by Cyclone Gabrielle. If this is you, but you’d still like to be a full member please contact us for a token for the 2023-2024 subscription fee. We’d sooner keep our members than lose them, so we’ll do our best to help.

If you have any problems, please contact us.

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We are delighted to have Alex on board, with her strong background in nutrient management and a focus on sustainable production systems.

The local farms are part of the second year of our “Best Management Practice of Nitrates in Process Cropping” project funded by MPI through the Sustainable Farming Fund, with co-funding and support from Hawke’s Bay Regional Council, Kraft-Heinz Watties and McCain Foods. As with everyone else, the wet spring has delayed many plantings, but we have six trials established, with two more green bean crops to be planted in January.

We began an extension to our “Future Proofing Vegetable Production” project in July. That is making a series of online learning resources, based on the lessons from the Future Proofing Vegetable Production work in Gisborne and Horowhenua. Alex stars in two new videos, which can be viewed on our new-look website.

Alex is also managing a new trial that will be announced shortly. A lot of preliminary work behind the scenes and a huge amount of baseline sampling in the field has kept everyone very busy for the last few months.

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The 2022 Annual General Meeting will be held on Wednesday 22 June at the Green Shed at the LandWISE MicroFarm, 21 Ruahapia Rd, Waipatu, Hastings. The AGM will be accompanied by a free seminar with presentations covering current and future projects and topics of interest. The meeting begins with a cup of tea at 3:00 PM.

RSVP

Presentations

Presence of Herbicide Resistant Weeds in New Zealand – Chris Buddenhagen, AgResearch

As part of the MBIE AgResearch Herbicide Resistance Management programme, Chris and colleagues have undertaken a number of surveys of farms and vineyards in across New Zealand. Over the 2021-2022 season, weed seed samples were collected across the North Island and tested for signs of resistance. Chris will give an update, and tell us how resistance is appearing.

Nitrate Trials in Process Vegetable and Asparagus Crops – Dan Bloomer, LandWISE

Over the 2021-202 season we have monitored nitrogen applications to a range of process crops in Hastings, and asparagus crops across the country. The aim is to validate current industry recommendations in view of increasing costs and regulatory pressures.

Regenerative Cropping at the MicroFarm – David France, Future Farming Trust

LandWISE and the Hawke’s Bay Future Farming Trust are collaborating to compare the effects of conventional and regenerative practices on soil carbon and health. This proposed six-year project will see replicated trials with large plots established at the LandWISE MicroFarm, and a huge amount of monitoring!

AGM Matters

Financial Report

Key results to be presented at the meeting

Board Positions

John Evans and John van der Linden are due to retire by rotation at the AGM. John Evans has indicated he is keen to serve one more term, including continuing as Chair in the immediate future. He has been nominated by Simon Wilcox, seconded by John van der Linden.

John van der Linden is choosing to step down as he has a high work load and considerable involvement in Young Grapegrower of the Year, and the Hawke’s Bay Future Farming Trust. John has nominated Alex Dickson to replace him as Industry Representative – seconded by Simon White. There is a short bio for Alex below.

Subscriptions

The Board is not recommending a change to Annual Subscription rates. We were extremely tardy getting invoices out again, but are pleased many responded promptly. If you haven’t yet paid, we’d appreciate your attention ASAP. If you haven’t received an invoice, please let us know info@landwise.org.nz.

Alex Dickson

Board nominee, Alex Dickson completed a Bachelor of Science, majoring in Agricultural Science, at Massey University, in which time she spent 12 months studying overseas at Wageningen University in the Netherlands.

Alex has been working for Ballance for 4.5 years, starting as an intern in Whangarei at the end of 2017. She moved to Hawke’s Bay in August 2018 and worked as a Nutrient Specialist in the pastoral sector for a little over 3 years, before moving into the East Coast Horticulture and Arable Specialist role in October 2021.

Alex is currently working towards a Postgraduate Diploma in Environmental Management. Originally from Feilding, she purchased a house in sunny Hastings at the end of last year. In her spare time she enjoys netball, gardening and running.

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