Seedy milk
OPINION: Seeds of legume plants are being used to make dairy-free milk products by scientists at Massey University’s Palmerston North labs.
Making science accessible was one of the main features of Massey University’s annual Farmed Landscape Research Centre’s (FLRC) annual workshop.
This took place at the Palmerston North campus last week, with more than 200 people attending the event in person – along with many others who joined online.
FLRC director, Professor Chris Anderson says the aim of this year’s workshop was to promote robust discussions based on the theme of the event – Diverse Solutions.
More than 70 speakers took part in the workshop, including a Danish expert in catchment management Simon Rosendahl Bjorholm. Other keynote speakers included Jacqueline Rowarth of Lincoln University, John Roche of MPI and Richard McDowell of AgResearch.
Anderson says having overseas speakers helps enrich NZ science and develop valuable international contacts.
“Having overseas speakers gives us a different perspective and a chance to reflect on challenges overseas,” he told Rural News.
“We are looking at lessons from Europe because that is a critical export market for NZ. We need to be cognisant of what the trends and expectations are from our partners. That helps us develop new ideas on how we can deliver diverse solution.”
Topics covered at the FLRC event included diverse solutions for greenhouse gases, carbon, water, animals and soils and pasture. The way the programme is run could easily be described as ‘speed dating science’, with all but the keynote presentations limited in length to just ten minutes. However, while short, the presentations widened the scope of workshop giving participants plenty of information to digest and reflect on.
A feature of FLRC this year was the participants were given the option of attending in person or going on-line. Anderson says in changing times many people don’t want to or cannot travel and the online option has proved very popular.
South Waikato farm manager Ben Purua’s amazing transformation from gang life to milking cows was rewarded with the Ahuwhenua Young Maori Farmer award last night.
Bankers have been making record profits in the last few years, but those aren’t the only records they’ve been breaking, says Federated Farmers vice president Richard McIntyre.
The 2023-24 season has been a roller coaster ride for Waikato dairy farmers, according to Federated Farmers dairy section chair, Mathew Zonderop.
Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) director general Ray Smith says job cuts announced this morning will not impact the way the Ministry is organised or merge business units.
Scales Corporation is acquiring a number of orchard assets from Bostock Group.
Family and solidarity shone through at the 75 years of Ferdon sale in Otorohanga last month.