Exciting progress has been made in the field of precision agricultural technology, with new tools being developed to advance goals of improving production practices. New Zealand farmers and growers can now benefit from home-grown agricultural technology that provides precise information to aid decisions made on farm and orchard.
New Zealand agricultural landscapes are highly diverse. Due to the variation not only between regions but different farms within the same catchment, flexibility on best practice that protects the land is required.
NZ producers can benefit from spatial mapping and digitization of land use management tools at the catchment level to assist with future decision-making. Through different lenses they can overlay to include data on the land’s variables, such as soil type, depth, texture, drainage and slope and erosion risk.
Such a tool is the Freshwater Farm Plans (FWFP). FWFP is a regulated farm planning process for farmers and growers that will provide a practical way to identify, manage and reduce the impact of farming on the freshwater environment. FWFP will become a part of the precision ag story NZ is so well known for.
Source: farmersweekly.co.nz