The use of the Overseer model as a regulatory tool has long been questioned by farmers and scientists. The government has tasked regional councils with the job of regulating nutrient losses to water, but nutrient losses are notoriously difficult to measure or even estimate. The Overseer model however existed, was already used by the industry - and produced estimates of leaching losses. Actual numbers, in black and white. Just what the councils needed.
26 active lysimeters, total 119 m2 The GroundTruth lysimeter system has been quietly growing for several years. To date, 27 lysimeters have been installed, of which 26 are presently active. The active lysimeters have a total area of 119 m2 (equivalent area to almost 600 standard column lysimeters). On an area basis, Grounded is therefore actively measuring leaching from an area that rivals the leaching research facilities of the largest universities and CRIs in New Zealand.
Farming is the management of complex biological systems, systems we do not fully understand. Agricultural science is the process of trying to understand those systems better, little by little. But there is much we still do not know. The most exciting science is when you have an interesting observation, and try to figure out what is behind it. The mystery of the missing smell Several years ago I was approached by a dairy farmer who had been applying extremely low rates of N fertiliser, yet achieving levels of production per hectare that were equivalent to high input conventional farms.
Grounded was the runner-up for the AgriMagic Smart Farming award at the South Island Agricultural Field Days this year, for the GroundTruth lysimeter system. We would like to thank the organisers and sponsors for this important recognition of the value of this product to New Zealand agriculture. We would also like to congratulate Halter Cow Collars for taking out the Smart Farming Award, with a product that takes ideas that have been discussed in research settings for many years and used on a smaller scale for research purposes, and implements these into a practical, useful and accessible tool for farmers.
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