74 | Future farm focuses on the hard problems B+LNZ Northern South Island Farmer Council on farm. Russell Fredric MEAT & WOOL » Lanercost Farm • to page 75 Beef + Lamb New Zealand (BLNZ) general manager of farming excellence Dan Brier is enjoying the opportunity to be involved in the organisation’s North Canterbury Future Farm (NCFF) project. The NCFF is a partnership between Beef and Lamb New Zealand (BLNZ) and Lanercost Farm, a 1310 hectare sheep and beef property near Cheviot where the project is based. BLNZ owns the livestock, employs the staff and contracts a consultant to help with running the farm. The purpose of the project is that the organisation wants to demonstrate some farm system- level changes and the technologies that help demonstrate to farmers locally and more widely around the country and how they might use those technologies on their own properties, Dan says. “It is part of our wider group of extension tools to help farmers make informed decisions on their own farms” Dan is a veterinarian who comes from a farming background, including running his own farm and working for Pamu/Landcorp. “The opportunity at Beef and Lamb New Zealand is to help farmers right across the country to improve their productivity and pro tability so that’s the draw. “We are working on some really hard problems like greenhouse gasses and intractable animal health diseases like internal parasites so trying to gure out how we can solve those problems for farmers is a really exciting opportunity.” “We’ve got the mandate from our farmers and work with some really clever people, both inside Beef and Lamb NZ and with our partner organisations like AgResearch and the universities. A BLNZ farmer survey asking what their biggest on-farm challenges were revealed these are parasite resistance, facial eczema and climate change/ greenhouse gasses. “So those are the areas where we are really putting our emphasis. That’s very much driven by what farmers have asked us to work on on their behalf.” In the case of eczema, there is strong anecdotal evidence of increasing spore counts in areas such as Nelson and the South Island’s West Coast as well as a greater spread in the North Island. “We know it’s becoming more of a challenge for farmers; we also know that the tools that we’ve got at the moment just aren’t good enough.” “In the future our customers are going to be expecting us to use less chemical in our animals.” The present hot topic of greenhouse gasses has lead to the industry looking for a genetic solution to reduce methane emmissions in ruminating animals. Turanganui Romneys are proud to be associated with Lanercost Farm Mike Warren 027 446 5312 or 06 307 7841 Guy Warren 027 848 0164 William Warren 027 824 9327 Turanganui Romneys
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