A template to reunite farmers and scientists had its big reveal at Mystery Creek Fieldays with the opening of the Science for Farmers venue, showcasing the multiple strands of agri-research underway.
John Roche, the Ministry for Primary Industry’s director for its on-farm support team, likened the venue to a return to the respected and well-attended Ruakura Farmers Conferences held prior to Fieldays up until the late 1990s.
They provided an opportunity for farmers to get up close to the researchers and work that was at the sharp end of farm productivity.
“This is an attempt to bring that science back to the field days, with partners that include the Greenhouse Gas Research Centre, LIC, MPI and Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research,” Roche said.
“Farmers have felt a disconnect from scientists, and scientists from farmers. This is in a country that has had the most efficient primary sector in the world.”
The interactive site provided a chance for farmers to ask scientists questions, see alternative pasture species mixes for themselves, and to learn more about major investments being made beyond the spotlight into the likes of methane mitigation.
Impetus for the project came from a visit Roche and MPI’s director-general Ray Smith made to Ireland’s National Ploughing Championships, that country’s showcase agricultural event.
“We got to see how our equivalent colleagues were running such an event, and felt we could do a copy of it in NZ, a version of leaning on fences and talking about pastures,” said Smith.
He had also detected a high level of frustration across the agri sector on how to improve communication between farmers and scientists.
He said the Irish have done a better job in bridging the science-farming gap and attributed this to New Zealand having had its traditional research structure radically altered through the 1990s.
The centre included a focus on specific research topics including methane reduction, improving pasture persistence and future genetics.
Minister for Agriculture Todd McClay said an additional $50 million has been provided for methane mitigation research, taking the total commitment to $400m over the next five years.
A key focus will be working with AgriZero, with a total of $191m committed by it and the government jointly for the next five years, aiming to develop two to three mitigation tools for farmers that can be used by 2030.
While acknowledging the value of “blue sky” science, Smith said focused, joint, industry-government research is likely the way forward in coming years as NZ moves to try to address its particular pastoral challenges.
He said he is also heartened by the strong interest other agri companies have shown in the Science for Farmers effort, and how it could provide a good template to take further afield, beyond Mystery Creek.