App helps get best out of pasture
Ever wondered what the financial result would be if you let pasture weeds get away on you? There's now a tool to find the answer.
C-DAX HAS won a 2011 Innovators Award for the pasture meter it developed with Massey University.
The award was made in the agricultural and environmental category of the contest, run annually by Bayer New Zealand, Idealog magazine and Ideas Accelerator.
C-Dax says the pasture meter can lift the stock-carrying capacity of a dairy farm by 7%. On a farm of 126ha this gain would equate to $46,000 at a pay-out rate of $6.05 kg/MS, the company says. At least 1000 of the pasture meters are now used on farms.
"This award recognises the commercial success of the pasture meter and... the Massey team under Professor Ian Yule that developed the concept," says Greg Shearer, managing director of C-Dax.
The pasture meter accurately measures, tracks and records the amount of pasture on paddocks via GPS and data technology. "With this information the farmer can make flexible decisions about... pasture utilisation and more efficient nutrient application, and can identify feed surpluses for hay or silage," Shearer says. "Ultimately, it leads to higher farm productivity."
The pasture meter can be towed behind an ATV at up to 20km/h, making up to 200 measurements per second.
C-Dax spokesman Robert Murray, who as a Massey University student was involved in the meter's development, says nothing compares with it anywhere in the world. "We have sold units to Europe, Australia, the US and South Africa."
www.pasturemeter.co.nz
Federated Farmers president Wayne Langford is claiming “some real success” on the 12 policy priorities it placed before the Coalition Government.
Federated Farmers is throwing its support behind the Fast-track Approvals Bill introduced by the Coalition Government to enable a fast-track decision-making process for infrastructure and development projects.
The latest report from ANZ isn’t good news for sheep farmers: lamb returns are forecast to remain low.
Divine table grapes that herald the start of a brand-new industry in Hawke’s Bay have been coming off vines in Maraekakaho.
In what appears to be a casualty of the downturn in the agricultural sector, a well-known machinery brand is now in the hands of liquidators and owing creditors $6.6 million.
One of New Zealand’s deepest breeder Jersey herds – known for its enduring connection through cattle with the UK’s longest reigning monarch, Queen Elizabeth II – will host its 75th anniversary celebration sale on-farm on April 22.