Online Tool to Engage with More Sheep And Beef Farmers

Beef + Lamb New Zealand Using Online Tool to Engage with More Sheep And Beef Farmers

Beef + Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ) has launched a new interactive communication tool, “Farmers’ Voice” to provide another way to engage with sheep and beef farmers and provide a forum for them to share information with each other.

B+LNZ chief executive, Dr Scott Champion said Farmers’ Voice will be accessed through the B+LNZ website atbeeflambnz.com/farmersvoice and would be another way to get information to farmers and receive feedback on topical issues. It is designed to complement existing face-to-face, print, radio and electronic channels used by B+LNZ.

“As an online forum, Farmers’ Voice provides the opportunity to post stories and videos, follow blogs, have online conversations and run quick polls on a topical question.

“It’s a quick and cost effective way for us to find out where sheep and beef farmers sit on particular issues and can give us a good steer on where the organisation needs to put its focus and what messages we need to be communicating on behalf of sheep and beef farmers.”

Farmers’ Voice is being launched today, and first off features a piece of work Beef + Lamb New Zealand is funding with AgResearch as the research partner – The Great Kiwi Earthworm Survey.

During June, AgResearch scientist Nicole Schon is running the survey to find out where in New Zealand all the earthworms are located.

Earthworms are vital for good soil and three different types of earthworm will be present in the most productive soils.

“Farmers are being asked to participate in the earthworm survey. By participating, farmers will be helping to build a national earthworm picture and they will also be in line to have earthworms introduced to their farm if they find certain species are missing from their soil.

“Everything you need to know about earthworms and how to identify and count the varieties on your farm can be found atbeeflambnz.com/farmersvoice.”

The action for farmers is to dig three holes in a paddock (20 cm by 30 cm deep) and collect the earthworms by hand sorting. The worms can be placed in water and they can be identified using the pictures on Farmers’ Voice. A fully functional soil should contain three types of worms – at least one dung earthworm, 14 topsoil worms and one deep burrowing earthworm.

Using Farmers’ Voice, farmers will be able to post a photo of their worms in a jar and pinpoint their farm on a map of New Zealand. All of the information will be collated and farmers will receive a summary of their own data and a comparison with other farms.

For more information please contact Beef + Lamb New Zealand communications manager, Jan Keir-Smith 027 271 7593

About Beef + Lamb New Zealand:

Beef + Lamb New Zealand Ltd is the farmer-owned industry organisation working for a confident and profitable sheep and beef industry. We help farmers make informed business decisions and promote their collective interests. Priorities include investing in research and development that meets the needs of farmers and the sector, developing farmer capability, and delivering knowledge that drives farm performance. We also work to attract and retain talent for the sector, support the sector’s market opportunities, advocate for farmers’ ability to operate, and build sector confidence and profile within communities.

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