Fieldays celebrates innovation
In addition to commemorating its 55th anniversary, Fieldays is also celebrating 55 years of highlighting and supporting innovation in the primary sector.
More than 60 finalists were in the running to be considered for one of four Awards: Prototype, Early-Stage, Growth & Scale, and Young Innovator of the Year.
Entries in the Innovation Awards were praised for their cross section of talent, with New Zealand National Fieldays Society chief executive Peter Nation saying the event showed the breadth of creativity across the primary industries.
“Fieldays is the home of innovation and the best platform to launch new ideas in the agriculture sector,” Nation said.
“Fieldays Innovation Awards is a programme that I, along with the wider Fieldays team, am immensely proud of.”
The 2022 Young Innovator of the Year Award winner was Delta Waterways, a student start-up from the University of Auckland and Auckland University of Technology.
The Judges commented on the potential Delta Waterways has and the benefits it could provide in a variety of situations including potentially closing the loop in waterway pollution control.
The 2022 Prototype Award went to The University of Waikato for their Kiwifruit Human Assisted Harvesting (e-BIN) which was developed with the goal of making fruit picking easier and eventually opening up roles to a wider range of people.
SNPshot, a company which aims to make DNA sampling of livestock seamless and simple, took home the Early-Stage Award.
Judges commented on its extremely well-executed and thought-out design while also focusing on useability on a farm. They mentioned its clever structure and efficiency and were impressed with its overall business model.
The 2022 Growth & Scale Award winner went to previous Fieldays Innovation award winner RiverWatch whose hardware and software solutions work together with the end goal of creating swimmable oceans, rivers and streams by providing a network of real-time water quality information.
Steve Chappell, Fieldays Programme Manager, says the Fieldays Innovation Awards are a showcase of the innovation that can be found in all four corners of New Zealand and around the world.
“‘The standard of entries was very high again this year, and I know the judges had to make some tough decisions,” he says.
“I’m happy for those that won and know that the prize packages for each category are going to make a world of difference on their innovation journey. I can’t wait to see how the next 12 months will go for the winners and finalists – I hope to see them all again next year in the next stages of their innovation journey.”
Fieldays Innovation Awards are supported by sponsors Massey University, Vodafone, Amazon Web Services, Gait International, King St. Advertising, NZME, Sprout Agritech, Blender Design, and Soda Inc., who all contribute to a prize package valued at over $60,000. Full details of the prizes for each category can be viewed on the Fieldays website.
