Changing farming climate AgResearch focus
A caravan that measures nitrous oxide emissions, software that helps manage soil nutrients and a full programme of
measures to keep lambs alive will be profiled by AgResearch at the Waimumu Southern Field days on 10–12 February on its
stand at exhibit site 211 and 212.
AgResearch Corporate Affairs Manager Allanah James is expecting interest in the exhibits, “AgResearch comes to Field
days to engage with farmers, to hear what they have to say about their issues, and to discuss how we can help support
sustainable, profitable farming”.
The 1972 Gypsy Moth Caravan which is the centrepiece of AgResearch Field days exhibit has one side which looks like any
normal caravan, but from its other side the solar panels and automated chambers show this caravan is very different. The
hi-tech AgResearch-designed system, funded by MAF, measures nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from soils and sends results
to a secure web address. The manual method for collection and analysis of N2O is time-consuming and costly, however the
system installed within this caravan automatically collects air samples in special chambers located around the paddock
and calculates the N2O concentration in each sample.
Soil nutrient inputs and losses have always been difficult to estimate and predict but AgResearch’s Overseer™ is a
clever software tool that calculates these as part of a nutrient budget. Developed by AgResearch scientists with
investment from MAF and the Fertiliser Manufacturers’ Research Association, Overseer™ is now used on dairy farms
throughout New Zealand to estimate nutrient inputs, on-farm transfer and losses. It is also being used by regional
councils to underpin allowable nutrient emissions from agricultural and horticultural enterprises.
Also available for farmers to look at when they visit the AgResearch exhibit is Lamb Alive; a programme that helps
farmers identify issues and work out solutions for lamb survival. AgResearch created the tool recognising that lamb
survival-to-sale is the major driver of profit in our sheep farm systems. Developed from farmer workshops and research
data, the Lamb Alive software predicts present and future climatic impacts on lamb survival on-farm and allows for
farmers to select their best management approaches.
ENDS