Welcome to the 10th edition of Ground Effect from Ravensdown

We’ve reached our 10th edition of Ground Effect and there’s no sign of a shortage of smarter farming stories!

Perhaps it’s no surprise that climate change mitigation features prominently in this edition. Dr Harry Clark, head of the New Zealand Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Research Centre, kicks things off by looking at mitigation options being researched for farmers, including breeding low-emitting cattle, feed alternatives and inhibitors. Drs Robyn Dynes and Tony Van der Weerden and Professor Louis Schipper bring it home by talking about how soil carbon is cycled, where our GHGs come from and the climate tools we are already using.

Farmers working hard to minimise soil disturbance include: Richard Peckitt in South Canterbury, Cece and Warrick James in Mid-Canterbury and David Wordsworth in Northland. Then we take a look at the big picture of where the future of food is heading with Dr John Penno, Agri Food scientist Frederic Leroy (recent Beef & Lamb NZ guest speaker) and social scientist Martin Cohen.

Our bread and butter is agri science and advice and there’s a considerable range in our 10th edition. Topics covering such things as our Pioneering to Precision programme’s progress, research farms and future plans; N-Protect as a climate tool, the efficiencies of Whole Farm Soil Testing, mitigating our phosphorus loss on farm and taking a deep dive into one of our most essential nutrients – nitrogen. Something that is close to my heart and features prominently here is wellbeing. We want everyone to come home from their jobs happy and healthy. We understand that this is becoming a challenge so you’ll find some insights and advice from YOLO Farmer’s Wayne Langford, Hummingly (Resilience) and Farmstrong.

Greg Campbell, CEO