Technology

Work is underway with existing farm systems to find new ways of producing food.

Growing agritech

By Tony Benny

A roadshow to showcase the latest developments in agritech is hitting the road to keep farmers informed.

Agritech New Zealand chief executive Brendan O’Connell says the Farm 2050 initiative will see New Zealand become part of an international network of trial farms to test new technologies to feed the world and protect the environment. A proposal under the Agritech Industry Transformation Plan (ITP) to create a national centre of excellence for horticultural robotics has been modified after concerns were raised that it may duplicate existing facilities.

The idea is one of three “high-impact projects” identified in the $11.4 million ITP launched by the Government last year, an effort to grow the agritech sector that already earns $1.4 billion in exports annually.

Agritech New Zealand chief executive Brendan O’Connell says it makes more sense to act as a catalyst and support existing research and engineering groups than set up a whole new national centre.

“There was an idea put forward and when it got to further investigation it was ‘Yeah, there’s something there, but let’s not throw the baby out with the bathwater’,” O’Connell says.

What’s proposed instead is a body that can act as a catalyst and pull together existing entities to help them respond to international opportunities for horticultural robotics, a term that embraces a range of automation and sensing technology and the internet of things (IoT).

“It’s had a whole pile of industry consultation, a business plan is being developed and there’s further funding likely to be sought. The business plan will go to the Treasury at some point to get further funding to set up that catalyst group,” he says.

The launch of the ITP in July 2020 was delayed by the covid-19 lockdown and since then proposals have been developed and AgritechNZ, together with MBIE, is staging a series of roadshows around the country to bring the agritech industry up-to-date.

Work on the other two high-impact projects — an agritech venture capital fund and the Farm 2050 Global Nutrients Project — is continuing too.

“A criticism in the past has been that there’s lots of early-stage funding available for businesses that want to get off the ground and get some angel or seed funding, but there are gaps later on when businesses are looking at entering a growth phase.”

Brendan O’Connell

The proposed venture capital fund would combine the resources of the Crown-owned NZ Growth Capital Partners and private investors to fill a gap in funding for new start-ups.

“A criticism in the past has been that there’s lots of early-stage funding available for businesses that want to get off the ground and get some angel or seed funding, but there are gaps later on when businesses are looking at entering a growth phase,” he says.

“This is about how they get some of that later-venture capital.”

O’Connell expects an announcement on the proposal to be made in “the next couple of months”.

The Farm 2050 initiative will see NZ become part of an international network of trial farms to test new technologies to feed the world and protect the environment. It’s the brainchild of Google chair Eric Schmidt and involves global giants, including Syngenta, Corteva and Bayer Crop Science. NZ is the first ‘country partner’ of Farm2050.

“It will set up some trial farms in NZ where technology developed in NZ can be tested, and that same technology can be tested at similar sites at a large scale in other parts of the world, including North America and Europe,” he says.

Established agritech companies like Gallaghers, LIC and Waikato Milking Systems Manawatu are already well established export businesses, but O’Connell says there’s now a new generation of innovators coming along, working both in existing farm systems and in new ways of producing food. He lists examples, including BioLumic – which uses UV light to increase plant growth, vigour and yields – hydroponics company Bluelab and hi-tech glasshouse sensor maker Autogrow systems.

“There are some really good innovators in NZ and none of them are too far off the land; many of them have come from farming backgrounds and so there’s a good affinity and understanding of what it means to farm and how technology can be applied,” he says. n

Agritech companies like LIC are already well established export businesses and now new innovators are coming on board. A lab technician freezing bull semen straws.

Why do we claim we’re the most sustainable dairy producers in the world? Because we are

A litre of our milk shipped to Ireland would still have a lower emissions profile than milk produced over there. Yep, we’ve taken on the challenge of sustainability, and we’re winning. Why? Because we’re dairy farmers, and we rise to a challenge. And it’s in these moments we shine.

Riseandshine.nz

Getting teat spraying right

By Richard Rennie & Tony Benny

Asurvey that found only 12% of dairy farmers were getting teat spraying right prompted automation engineer Gary Arnott and leading veterinarian mastitis expert Adrian Joe to invent the Teatwand teat sprayer over a decade ago.

Since a prototype version of the automated Teatwand was installed in a mid-Canterbury dairy in 2008, more than 1000 have been installed around the world, including Australia, the US and Europe.

Today, Canterbury-based Onfarm Solutions has expanded its Christchurch operations to meet increasing global demand for its accurate teat care solution.

Working closely with farmers, the company has also developed the Teatwand Stepover, a new innovation for combatting mastitis that will soon be available for farmers milking through herringbone dairy sheds.

Early Teatwand development was driven by a need for a modern automated solution for rotary platforms, where cow numbers have increased beyond the ability of most staff to maintain an effective teat spray pattern using manual spray devices.

Automated machines around at the time were only delivering 60-70% effectiveness, often affected by cows’ tails obstructing the machine spray pattern or by wind blow as the cows exited the dairy.

“A particular problem we were seeing was not enough spray getting accurately on all four teats, the existing systems were just spraying and hoping for the best, so we wanted to improve what was out there, and so we invented the Teatwand,” chief executive Gary Arnott says.

On a rotary platform, when the cups come off, sensors detect the cow’s precise position on the platform. The Teatwand extends under the udder and sprays exactly the right place to ensure every teat is covered, imitating the action of a human arm.

“We know precisely where the cow is positioned in the bail; using optical sensors and clever programming the system changes the spray pattern to suit,” he says.

“We now have our systems operating on all brands of rotary, anywhere in the world, including dairies in the US that milk 3000 cows three times a day.”

The new Teatwand Stepover is designed to work in any herringbone shed, anywhere in the world. This model is also suited to large “parallel parlours” used in the US.

“It’s an in-race-type system, and within a day or two the cows get used to it,” he says.

A survey of teat spray practices done a decade ago found two out of every three farmers were using the wrong dilution rate, and only one in three got good coverage of all four teats.

This was despite numerous studies that prove accurate teat spraying will reduce new infection rates by 50%.

“With mastitis being one of the main health issues dairy farmers face, it’s vital that teat spraying is done properly,” he says.

The return on investment for farmers managing teat care well is significant.

DairyNZ work has found cows with high somatic cell counts will usually produce less milk, with up to 8kg less milksolids per lactation for every increase of 250,000 SCC between 100,000 to 600,000.

Mastitis is usually the result of poor teat care management and the disease is estimated to cost NZ dairy farmers about $180 million a year, or about $37 for every milking cow.

Arnott says Onfarm’s Group philosophy and motivation is to design farmer-centric technology.

“We go to farms, look and ask precisely what their problems are. We then assemble a special R&D team to design the right solution, our recent innovation,” he says.

“It’s got to be affordable, properly engineered, fit for purpose and simple, but the most important thing is we are getting all four teats sprayed properly to bring those cell counts down.”

All Onfarm Group technologies are manufactured in Christchurch for complete quality control and a personal desire by Arnott to ensure the company is part of NZ’s thriving agri-tech start-up culture.

Another division of Onfarm Group is Onfarm Data, specialising in irrigation controls. Onfarm Data developed the One Centre Axis technology designed to encompass and control all irrigation and soil moisture management on a farm. It also supports farmers to adhere to local compliance regulations.

“The amount of quality control we implement goes down to every single bolt; no system goes out until it is thoroughly checked, and every system goes through a comprehensive test,” he says. n

Onfarm Solutions chief executive Gary Arnott says a new innovative product will help farmers ensure correct teat spraying.

MORE:

The Teatwand Stepover will be launched at the 2021 South Island Agricultural Field Days in Kirwee, Canterbury, on March 24-26.

Kiwi farmers’ chance to shine

By Anne Boswell

Kiwi dairy farm owners, managers, employees and dairy farming groups are encouraged to reinforce their global reputation as leaders in innovation, sustainability and efficiency by taking part in the #WeAreDairy initiative.

The inaugural #WeAreDairy award aims to showcase the incredible advancements being made on dairy farms and the positive impact they have on farm businesses, communities or the supply chain on a daily basis.

The award, established by Diversey’s

Deosan Agriculture hygiene brand and dairy industry consultants Promar

International, is open to dairy farmers across the globe and will recognise, celebrate and publicise the positive innovations, improvements and actions of the dairy community that are collectively shaping the future of the industry.

“It’s time for the industry to stand up and demonstrate the extraordinary progress we have made in the dairy sector, and the innovative ways in which farms have adapted to improve animal welfare and sustainability,” Diversey agricultural global application specialist

Alison Cox says.

“We are looking for dairy applicants who are excelling through improvements to the efficiency, quality or sustainability of their business.

“We’re looking for innovation, in a simple and practical form, that can be easily transferred to other dairy farm businesses and, therefore, deliver significant sustainable advancements.

“It can be anything from savings on fuel and transport or utilities, to a new housing design that has seen improvement in animal health.”

Applications can be made by visiting the #WeAreDairy website before the end of August. Applicants are asked to fill out a form with details of their sustainable or animal welfare improvement, explain the impact it has had on their business and animals, and include an image to support their example.

Judging will take place in September, from which five finalists will be selected.

The judging panel – composed of Alison Cox, Diversey executive director of sustainability Daniel Daggett and Promar International principal consultant Matt Sheehan – will look at a number of factors, including innovative thinking, the ease of implementation, the motivation for implementation and the relative impact of the change.

The overall winner will be announced in October and receive a $10,000 prize.

To further illustrate the progress of the innovation and advancements, and promote the industry around the globe, Diversey and Promar will publish a report highlighting the impact on climate and welfare if the processes carried out by the finalists were applied by the international dairy farming community.

It is also their aim to promote all entries throughout the entry period to further showcase the exceptional efforts of the dairy community in those areas and encourage and inspire others to improve sustainability and welfare.

“For the dairy industry, we are living through a time of brilliant change and we want to celebrate the positives,” Sheehan says.

“I want to encourage the industry to get behind this initiative and promote our progress to not only the farming community but also a wider audience, including consumers.” n

Diversey agricultural global application specialist Alison Cox says the #WeAreDairy initiative is a way to showcase the innovations and progress dairy farmers have made.

“We’re looking for innovation, in a simple and practical form, that can be easily transferred to other dairy farm businesses and, therefore, deliver significant sustainable advancements.”

Alison Cox

MORE:

For more information, entry criteria or to enter, visit www.wearedairy.com