E-news Number 29 for project teams and all those interested in Sustainable Farming in New Zealand

Dear all                He mihi nui ki a koutou

In this edition of E-news:

• 2010/11 funding round closes 7 October
• New fund administrator
• Reducing spray drift in kiwifruit
• Producing organic food - is this for you?
• Improving energy use in the wine industry
• Tane's Tree Trust ten-year anniversary conference

2010/11 funding round closes 7 October

A reminder that Phase 1 of the 2010/11 SFF funding round closes on Wednesday 7 October 2009 for all applications requesting funding of $20 000 or over. Project teams wishing to submit an application can download the application forms and guidelines from the SFF website.

The results of the Phase 1 round will be announced in mid December, and those projects that have been shortlisted will be asked to prepare a more detailed application by 2 March 2010. The final results will be available in mid April, so that projects can be contracted and ready to start by 1 July 2010.

Smaller SFF projects - requesting SFF grants of $20 000 or under - are due on 2 March 2010. To download the application form for projects under $20 000 click here.

Interested in finding out more?

For further information contact your project adviser or call the Fund Administrator on 0800 00 83 33.

New Fund Administrator

Welcome to Mairéad Roche who is the SFF Fund Administrator while Amanda Hall is on parental leave.

Mairéad is responsible for the fund administration and co-ordination of operations within SFF. Prior to joining SFF, Mairéad worked for the Tertiary Education Commission within the Industry Training Organisation team. Within this role Mairéad worked with many primary sector organisations such as Agriculture ITO, Horticulture ITO and the Forest Industries Training and Education Council (FITEC)

Mairéad has qualifications in film and media operations and production.

Mairéad is the first person to go to with any general SFF queries, including questions on payments, reporting and contracting. You can contact her on 04 894 0612 (DDI) or email mairead.roche@maf.govt.nz.

Reducing spray drift in kiwifruit

Spray drift from agrichemical applications is a major concern for the kiwifruit industry, as the industry is committed to meeting or exceeding legislated environmental requirements.

A recently completed project run by New Zealand Kiwifruit Growers Inc, and supported by a wide community of interest including researchers and consultants, spray contractors, Zespri, regional councils and growers, has shown that not only can spray drift be reduced, but also - as a result of this project - up to 80 percent of the spraying contractors are employing the technology and know-how to do so.

Drift typically occurs through a combination of:

• spraying under inappropriate conditions
• poor sprayer set up and operation
• spray being projected into the air above and beyond the canopy where small droplets can drift beyond the block boundaries.

Early on in the project, the research team showed that it was the early season applications of products such as hydrogen cyanamide to the bare kiwifruit canes that could cause the most off-target drift, whereas there was very little off-target movement from applications to full-leaf canopies.

The solution has been the adoption of low-drift, large-droplet Air Inclusion nozzles, which can be fitted to a standard airblast sprayer; the use of DriftStop adjuvant; and careful management of sprayer air outputs to avoid use of excessive air assistance volumes.

Airblast sprayer with Air Inclusion nozzles fitted on right hand side (Photo courtesy Zespri)

A series of workshops for spray contractors and growers, popular articles, best management fact sheets and one-on-one support has assisted in the rapid adoption of this technology by the kiwifruit industry and the consquent reduction in hydrogen cyanamide drift issues.

Interested in finding out more?

For more information about this project, including the final report, on the SFF website click here.

Producing organic food - is this for you?

A new publication which provides information on gross margins for both organic and conventional farming systems is now available. The 42 page booklet describes eight different cropping varieties and four livestock farming situations. In addition, information on organic production systems in New Zealand, key contacts and frequently asked questions are included. The aim is to provide potential organic farmers with basic information to assist them when deciding whether organic farming is an option for them.

The project was managed by Functional Whole Foods NZ Ltd and had additional industry funding from Midlands Seeds, NZ Bio Grains Ltd, Timaru Concentrates and Foundation for Arable Research.

Gross margin details are provided for barley, linseed, oats, peas, spring and winter wheat, white clover and juicing carrots. Livestock gross margins are recorded on sheep breeding, lamb and steer finishing, and dairy heifer grazing.

The booklet describes what is involved in establishing an organic production system and lists the first steps. Useful contacts and information sources provide helpful links for those wishing to access more in-depth information. Potential markets for organic produce are also discussed.

A frequently asked question section provides answers for questions ranging from "Can I convert my conventional animals into organically certified?" to "Is there financial assistance or grants to help offset the conversion costs?".

Interested in finding out more?

The booklet Crop and Livestock Gross Margins, Organic and Conventional Systems 2008-09 can be downloaded from the SFF website by clicking here. (329KB PDF)

For more information about this project on the SFF website click here.

Improving energy use in the wine industry

In 2006, SFF and New Zealand Winegrowers (NZW) funded a project aimed at improving energy efficiency in wineries. The project had three objectives:

1. To establish benchmarks for current New Zealand winery energy consumption.
2. To design a simple and cheap "do-it-yourself" measurement process to enable wineries to calculate their annual energy use and identify efficiencies and savings.
3. To provide practical guidance on how savings can be made and examples where others have made improvements.

Twenty-two wineries, representing 53 percent of the 2005 harvest volume, provided information about their energy use. They found that there was considerable variation between the wineries and, for most, the potential to make savings. The best performer in the group was a small winery which has an active energy management programme.

Californian wineries are using a simple self assessment tool called "BEST" (Benchmarking and Energy and Water Savings Tool) to measure their energy and water use. The tool is freely available so NZW decided to adopt it and adapt it to New Zealand conditions.

The New Zealand version of BEST is complete and is freely available to all New Zealand wineries. It has been demonstrated through a series of industry workshops. Interest has been keen because of its ease of use and practical recommendations for savings. The next step is to develop the "BEST" model to include a benchmarking and water saving tool for winery use.

Interested in finding out more?

For more information about this project on the SFF website click here.

The "BEST" tool is available from Sustainable Winegrowers New Zealand.

Tane's Tree Trust ten-year anniversary conference

Tane's Tree Trust is a charitable trust formed to encourage New Zealand landowners to plant and sustainably manage native trees for multiple uses. The Trust has been involved in a number of Sustainable Farming Fund projects, both as grantees in their own right and as collaborators with other forestry, environmental or community groups.

The Trust is holding a national conference on the planting and management of indigenous trees, at Waikato University on 18 and 19 November, with field visits organised for 20 November. MAF Sustainable Farming Fund is supporting this conference to promote the dissemination and uptake of work related to indigenous planting amongst a wider community of interest. This will be aided by four facilitated workshops on the productive use of native species, establishing natives economically, ecosourcing, and research issues.

The handbook Planting and Managing Native Trees - A Technical Manual, which has been funded by the Sustainable Farming Fund, FITEC and the Tane's Tree Trust, will be launched at the conference.

Interested in finding out more?

Click here to download the conference brochure (204KB PDF) and registration form (42KB MSW) for Managing Native Trees - towards a national strategy.

To find out more about the Tane's Tree Trust see their website www.tanestrees.org.nz

Ending

Please contact us if you want to provide something for future editions of SFF E-news.

Let us know if you don't wish to receive any more editions of E-news or if there is someone who should be added to our distribution list.

Kia rongo korero ano matou i a koutou

Kind regards
Denis, Diana, Helen, Janine, Louise, Mairéad and Nic.