26 Volume 137 – June 12, 2023
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Ag&Ed Educational resources for schools & students
Read, listen to, and watch what is happening in Aotearoa New Zealand’s food and fibre sector by scanning the QR codes or following the links. Answer the questions to complete the exercises. Watch this
Have a listen
How are smart collars changing the dairy sector?
How does a farm adviser contribute to decisions? Ash Phillips is a farm adviser (kaitohutohu ahuwhenua) in Wairoa on the East Coast. Ash works alongside farmers investigating new opportunities. In this Opportunity Grows Here video, Ash talks about what she does and why she loves her role.
In this episode of the Road to Rural podcast, Callum Woodhouse tells us his pathway to being part of the research and development team at Halter Ltd. http://lnkiy.in/smartcollars Have a go: 1. What would a typical day look like for Callum? 2. How does the technology of Halter make farmers’ lives easier? 3. What skills do you think someone working in research and development needs to excel at the role? 4. What is Callum’s tip for helping set secondary school students up for a career in agriculture? 5. Outside of the dairy sector, what opportunities can you think of for smart collars?
http://lnkiy.in/farmadviser Have a go: 1. One of the farm projects Ash is involved with is fencing off waterways and riparian planting. What is riparian planting? 2. What are the benefits to the farm and the community from fencing waterways and riparian planting? 3. A key part of Ash’s role is reporting actual production against budget, and then identifying what? 4. What are the things that Ash loves about her role as a farm adviser?
Did you know?
Stretch yourself: 5. Check out Careers.govt.nz and list the steps you would take to become a farm adviser
Watch this
How does budgeting help a farming business?
How can rapid antigen tests (RAT) help New Zealand’s agricultural industry?
Take a look at the DairyNZ video and see how budgeting helps farmers run a successful and profitable business.
Researchers have been developing a RAT for farmers to use to detect facial eczema in livestock.
http://lnkiy.in/dairy-budget
http://lnkiy.in/RAT-Livestock
Have a go: 1. Why is developing a budget for your farm important? 2. What’s the first step in preparing a budget? 3. What’s the aim of a budget? 4. What’s the difference between an annual budget and a monthly forecast?
Have a go: 1. What is facial eczema and why is early detection important? 2. How much is it estimated that facial eczema costs the New Zealand economy each year? 3. How do farmers currently test for facial eczema? 4. What are the benefits of facial eczema rapid antigen tests?
Stretch yourself: 5. What would happen if your monthly spending exceeded monthly income for a given month? 6. How would having an up-to-date forecast help?
Stretch yourself: 5. What funding and grants has Tokaora Diagnostics received to help research and develop the idea? 6. How does this support new companies and the industry?