Most Ground Effect readers will be well acquainted with the reasons that New Zealand’s primary producers lead the world, optimising productivity while striving to safeguard long-term sustainability.

As one of Plant & Food Research’s (PFR) principal scientists, Dr Brent Clothier’s is a firm advocate of robust science supporting better decisions for the primary sector.

Despite decreasing their fertiliser spend, Fraser and Katherine McGougan have maintained production and improved pasture health on their 150ha Willowvale Farm in eastern Bay of Plenty. Careful management is crucial to the farming operation’s success and its long-term environmental sustainability.

N-Vision NZ, a new $22m innovation to help farmers reduce nitrogen (N) loss, is Ravensdown’s largest single investment in research and development, established in partnership with the Government’s Sustainable Food and Fibres Future (SFFF) initiative.

How can we feed an ever-growing global population with the least environmental impact? It has been a question occupying the minds of agricultural scientists for decades, and the improvements have been remarkable.

The ability to grow grass under pivot irrigation has been a game changer for Haldon Station in South Canterbury’s Mackenzie Country.

Single superphosphate (SSP) is a proven, low-emission choice of fertiliser that could help get more farms closer to New Zealand’s carbon neutral target by 2050.

Farmers will no doubt have been reeling from the price of glyphosate recently, which was caused by multiple but interrelating factors. On top of this, the world’s most widely used herbicide is under intense scrutiny here and overseas.

North Canterbury dairy farmers Kevin and Sara O’Neill have improved pasture quality by extending round lengths and applying different fertiliser mixes in a little-and-often approach.

Provocative headlines are part of modern-day living, but what’s the truth when it comes to alternative proteins? In a recent paper, Dr Jacqueline Rowarth, Dr Ants Roberts and Mike Manning explored claims that dietary shifts will reduce climate change.

DairyNZ’s General Manager Sustainable Dairy Dr David Burger believes significant and immediate reductions in nitrogen and phosphorus loss to waterways are possible if dairy farmers put good management practices into action.

New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards 2022 share farmer of the year Will Green is forging a path to farm ownership in the dairy industry. He can’t recollect when he first decided he was going to be a farmer: it’s been inevitable as long as he can remember.

Ongoing work with LUCI-Ag to identify nutrient loss hotspots and mitigation solutions at a catchment scale is providing valuable learning opportunities for both Ravensdown and the Makarewa Headwaters Catchment Group in Southland.

In 2013 Ravensdown and the Ministry for Primary Industries embarked on a PGP programme known as Pioneering to Precision. The project was undertaken with a view to improving the way fertiliser is used on hill country farms.

Studies have shown subsurface drainage in effluent areas is a significant issue when it comes to phosphorus (P) and E. coli loss. Anne Lee investigates new research showing how ClearTech and EcoPond technology can help mitigate these losses to the environment.

The alkaline earth metal calcium (Ca) is the twentieth element in the periodic table and is one of the 19 elements essential for life in all higher plants and animals on planet Earth. Calcium is the fifth most abundant element in the Earth’s crust at 3% and the third most abundant metal.