News

Demonstrating sound and responsible water use Shortly all those independent irrigators in the Waimakariri Zone (& elsewhere in Canterbury) that don’t already have a Farming Land Use consent will be required to get one. When Plan Change 5 becomes operative (expected to occur in first half of 2019), it resets the ‘drafting gates’ for those required to have a Farming Land Us ...

“It has been a good spring so far,” says Ben Abernethy.  “Cold nights have been a feature until now, so pasture growth only really got going recently. We have had manageable rainfall amounts and our feed utilization has been going well.” He says that the new weather forecast portal provided by NIWA to the research farmers has been fantastic. “We are starting to make some sen ...

Co-innovation is a collaborative approach to tackling complex problems. It requires an awareness of the wider operating context, an understanding of the problem and its impacts as well as a focus on relationships between stakeholders united by a shared desire for change. An awareness of all stakeholders who have an interest or role Many people have the potential to influence t ...

The economics component of the programme uses modelled and actual data to understand the economic impact of changes in management of our pilot farms in response to improved soil moisture and weather forecast information. It has two key aims: to understand the economic and drainage impacts or various irrigation scheduling and management decisions to understand the economic ...

The Irrigation Insight programme is built on a pilot study where we work with farmers in co-learning and co-developing on-farm irrigation management tools for improved irrigation practices. The Cust Water Users’ Group includes five farms where the farmers work together as a team to make a difference to their irrigation practices. At each pilot farm, instruments are installed t ...