'Precision Agriculture – A View to the Future', a conference held at Peppers Clearwater Resort in Christchurch on Thursday 11 August, was hosted by Lincoln University on behalf of Business New Zealand, the Tertiary Education Commission and the University Commercialisation Offices of New Zealand.
The continuing health of our agricultural and manufacturing sectors is critical to the economic well-being of New Zealand. These sectors are becoming increasingly interdependent. New Zealand has always been a world leader in agricultural technologies, extending back to the use of refrigeration for lamb exports. Technological innovation is as important now as it was then and if New Zealand is to remain a leader in the ultracompetitive global food supply industry, it must continually increase the quality of what is produced from its land and water resources and the efficiency with which this is done. Success in this regard will be significantly influenced by the precision with which farmers and growers operate.
In recent times, the technologies employed to increase precision have included GPS to guide implements and to accurately map soil or crop characteristics, through sophisticated sensors and software to the use of robots to increase accuracy and reduce costs.
The conference provided a greater awareness of the opportunities the agricultural markets provide for developers and manufacturers working in areas such as sensor development, software, electronics and manufacturing. Researchers got a steer from industry as to the opportunities that exist for applying their skills. For those already working in the area of precision agriculture it provided a heads-up on where the industry is and where it is going, locally and globally.
The conference was well attended with approximately 150 attendees from both industry and the tertiary sector present. It was officiated by Dr Peter John from Lincoln University and was opened by the Right Honourable David Carter. Below are links to David Carter's speech, the programme, presentation slides from the speakers, attendees names and a book with bios from those who attended.
For further details or information about the conference, you can contact Julie Ward.
Presentations
Below are links to pdfs of the presentations in the order they were presented:
- Ian Yule, Massey (PDF 1MB)
- David Lamb, University of New England (PDF 3MB)
- Rob Lindores, Trimble (PDF 2MB)
- Nick Pyke, FAR (PDF 2MB)
- Hayden Lawrence, Dairy farmer - movie
- Mike Trought, Marlborough Wine Research Centre (PDF 3 MB )
- John Bright, Aqualinc Ltd (PDF 813KB)
- Dave Rankin, Indigo Systems (awaiting permission)
- Craig McKenzie, Agri-Optics - presentation (PDF 3MB)
- Craige McKenzie, Agri-Optics - movie
- Greig Shearer, C-Dax (PDF 1MB)
- Richard Green, University of Canterbury (PDF 1MB)
- Stuart Bradbury, Precision Irrigation Ltd (PDF 4MB)
- Ian Woodhead, Lincoln Ventures Ltd (PDF 1MB)