Ravensdown Named Naming Rights Sponsor of A&P Show
Farmer owned co-operative Ravensdown has signed a two-year naming rights sponsorship of the Canterbury A&P Show.
Ravensdown has named Tom Wilson as this year’s recipient of the Hugh Williams Memorial Scholarship.
The Hugh Williams Memorial Scholarship was founded to commemorate the late Hugh Williams, a Ravensdown director from 1987 to 2000. The scholarship provides $5000 per year for the duration of a student’s agricultural or horticultural studies at Lincoln, Waikato or Massey University.
Currently in his third year at Massey University, Wilson is studying his Bachelor of Agricultural Science. He is actively involved in the agricultural sector and presented his research on the feasibility of an updated Spreadmark test at the annual Fertiliser and Lime Research Centre conference in 2019.
Wilson has a keen interest in precision and digital agriculture which works well with his passion for food production and the environment. He believes that the solutions to feeding the world’s growing population without risking the environment will come from variable rate application and site-specific management.
“Geographic Information Systems, or GIS, has become my favourite subject,” says Wilson. “GIS software lets you spatially map data, such as soil texture or organic matter content of topsoil and then from this data you can form site-specific management zones for variable rate application. I’m very much a visual learner and being able to visualise spatial data in map form gives me a greater appreciation for the possibilities of precision agriculture.
“In the future, I want to be a leading figure in the mass adoption of precision agriculture,” says Tom. “I think it’s an exciting time to be in the agricultural sector, and I aim to do my part to bridge the gap for precision agriculture between research and on-farm practice.”
Oamaru-based livestock handling specialist Te Pari has bought Combi Clamp, the New Zealand manufacturer of Combi Clamp manual sheep handlers.
Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has admitted that a scheme bringing workers from Pacific nations to work on orchards has become too hard to navigate but says changes are coming.
A new app designed in New Zealand aims to help sheep, beef and deer farmers capture, analyse and use body condition score data more effectively.
Canterbury farmer Andy Macfarlane has been appointed to the board of AgriZeroNZ, the public-private partnership designed to accelerate the development and deployment of emissions reduction tools for New Zealand farmers.
For over 50 years Mel Ewers has been supporting the apple sector navigate through compliance and quality assurance issues.
The apple sector is enjoying a bumper harvest season.

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