Managing resources for a competitive advantage is the Fieldays 2014 Premier Feature theme, which will highlight areas where New Zealand's agricultural sector can optimise, maximise and develop systems and processes to help manage resources effectively and maintain our place among the world's best.

Research projects into nitrogen leaching, dairy grazing on cropping farms, Argentine stem weevil and slugs by the Foundation for Arable Research, which has been awarded funding from the Ministry for Primary Industry's 2014 Sustainable Farming Fund, fits well with the theme.

FAR CEO Nick Pyke says it's a pleasing result, and the four projects, with a combined value of more than $1.8 million, are a good fit for the levy-funded organisation's research portfolio.

'Our aim, as a research organisation, is to increase the profitability and sustainability of cropping farm systems,” says Nick.

'Each of these four projects was developed as a result of industry consultation, and as such is focused quite clearly on on-farm issues faced by our growers. Any information which helps to provide solutions to these problems will be a big help for them.”

The projects involve other industry funders and research organisations, a clear reflection of FAR's business strategy, says Nick.

'Our recently-launched business strategy stressed the importance of industry and research partnerships for the development and delivery of excellent research projects for our growers.

'For this reason we are pleased to be partnering with other primary industry sectors, Crown research institutes and regional councils in funding and carrying out these projects. Such collaborations ensure these SFF projects provide the best outcomes for our levy payers, as well as those in other primary sectors,” says Nick.

The four projects funded are:

Root zone reality: a fluxmeter network to measure and manage nitrogen leaching losses on cropping farms.

This project will place fluxmeters (devices which can measure drainage and N leaching losses from the plant root zone) on nine arable and vegetable cropping farms across New Zealand.

The measurement data will improve knowledge of typical N leaching losses from cropping and vegetable production under good management practice, and help farmers to understand what steps they could take to deliver water quality outcomes desired by their communities. It's also expected these results will provide a valuable database for future work on validation of the Overseer crop model and development of public policy regarding freshwater quality.

Good management practices for intensive winter dairy grazing on arable farms.
This project is working with farmers from Waikato, Hawke's Bay, Manawatu, Canterbury, Otago and Southland on grazing practices on their farms. Their experience will guide the project's outputs. It aims to provide an environmental and productivity risk assessment for the impacts of winter grazing on arable cropping soils and nutrient management.

This will inform discussion about the long-term sustainability of winter grazing and provide basis for a cross-sector discussion about real costs of the practice to arable farmers.

The information gained will also be used to develop a risk assessment framework to help farmers assess environmental impacts of intensive winter grazing on nutrient losses and degradation of soils on their farms.

Impact and management of Argentine stem weevil under reduced levels of parasitism.
The parasitoid wasp, introduced in the mid-1990s to control Argentine stem weevil, is not as effective today.

This project aims to develop a better understanding the extent of ASW damage on farms, the effect of the bio-control agent and how farmers are managing ASW. This information will be used to determine the risk of ASW to ryegrass and cereals and gain an updated understanding of the role of the parasitoid in ASW control.

Integrated management of slug pests.

The current project aims to deliver guidelines and extension activities to support a fully integrated approach to managing slugs, based on pest monitoring and cultural control methods such as tillage and crop residue management, optimising use of chemical molluscides and investigating potential for biological control of slugs in New Zealand.

The project will use maize grown for silage and forage brassicas as test crops, but results should be applicable to many crops across arable, pastoral and horticultural sectors.
Work on the projects begins later this year.