Volume 122 I September 12th, 2022 I email:agined@agrihq.co.nz I www.farmersweekly.co.nz/agined Are you a parent or teacher and want to receive AginED every week directly to your email inbox? Send us an email to sign up at agined@agrihq.co.nz
FARMING SEAWEED? We have touched on seaweed and its uses in previous AginED issues and explained its value for Agriculture, including research on methane reduction in cattle using supplements that contain seaweed. A land based aquaculture farm will start construction later this year. It will produce methane-reducing supplements from native NZ seaweed at Ocean Beach near Bluff in Southland.
North Island medium male store lamb ($/kg)
To find out more head to: https://www. farmersweekly.co.nz/green-light-forworld-first-seaweed-farm/ 1
What is the name of the NZ-native seaweed that they will use for animal supplements?
2 Where in NZ this technology already in production? 3 When do they expect the Ocean Beach facility to be completed? 4 Where is most of the produced supplement expected to be exported to? 5 The proposed ecopark is expected to produce supplements for up to 15,000 cattle. A goal of being able to produce supplements for up to 1 million cattle has been set. Given these figures how many ecoparks would need to be running in order to achieve this? 6 Methane production in cattle is thought to be reduced by what percentage using Asparagopsis?
1
Looking at the medium male store lamb graph when did prices peak last year?
2 When were prices at their lowest in 2021? 3 When were returns at their highest (so far) this year? 4 When were returns in 2022 at their lowest?
STRETCH YOURSELF:
HEADING FOR HEALTH?
Fill your boots
We have seen how seaweed has been developed to help reduce methane emissions in cows which could be a very useful step (particularly for feedlot cattle). This is certainly not the only use that has been found for this wonderful resource as it has a plethora of other uses including products made from its waste. One of these is nanocellulose.
Choosing a career path is never easy. Often it’s very hard to choose what you might want to do, especially when you don’t know much about what different jobs/careers involve. Over the next two years 33 rural schools will have a chance to find out more about careers in health.
1
Peaks and troughs for returns this year are quite different to last year’s levels. Can you give examples of what may have influenced this year’s results?
2 Looking at the 5-year average when were returns at their highest 3 The store lamb market has gained strength in the last few weeks with some stronger contracts offered. Weather conditions throughout New Zealand have been trying with some areas experiencing droughtlike periods followed by heavy rain which created flooding, slips and general chaos. Given this, it is thought that there are likely a good number of lambs still on farm after not being sent to market at their usual time. Why do you think that farmers have held on to stock for longer this year? (In particular those that have been hit with inclement weather events). 4 If this theory is correct and there are larger portions of lambs that are still to hit the market, what would you expect returns to do between now and Christmas? Would this differ from previous year’s patterns? If so, outline why you think there will be differences.
To find out more head to https:// www.farmersweekly.co.nz/ programme-to-promote-healthcareers-in-rural-schools/
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/ programmes/afternoons/ audio/2018737622/the-fragile-andbeautiful-world-of-seaweed
1
Why are health careers being promoted in rural schools?
2 Who is funding this campaign? 3 Do some research - other than GP (General Practitioner) work what other careers are there in the medical field? Can you name five? 4 Why do you think rural regions find it harder to gain and retain health professionals? 5 Do you think that this programme is a good way to address those issues? Why or why not?
Completely bamboozled? How many words containing three or more letters can you make from nanocellulose? There are several words with 9 or 10 letters to be made from this word, can you make one?
To learn more about this product head to: https://www.farmersweekly. co.nz/hi-tech-success-from-seato-cellulose/ 1
What is nanocellulose used for?
Professor Wendy Nelson is New Zealand’s pre-eminent seaweed expert and NIWA’s programme leader for marine biological resources, Wendy is an expert on seaweed from the Kermadecs to the Sub Antarctic. She shares her expertise in this podcast.
1
What is another name for seaweed?
2 What is one of the most common seaweed in NZ?
2 What was the award that Agrisea recently won?
3 How many species of seaweed do we have in NZ?
3 What is nanocellulose usually derived from?
4 What numbers of food additives are actually seaweed based?
4 The product that Agrisea and Scion scientists have developed is made from seaweed and ? What is the difference between these two resources? 5 What other products does Agrisea make? 6 Who are Scion and what do they do?
5 What are some uses of alginates? 6 Are there any threats to seaweed? What is probably the largest risk?