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Sectors: Livestock

Data sharing to achieve data interoperability

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New Zealand is a country of entrepreneurs and leaders in the creation of new systems and apps that can capture on farm data. A significant opportunity to automate data collection to match the systems together and see the data holistically still remains. Each company is creative and innovative in their own right, but farmers and growers want to see the data consolidated. This is how they can make robust, science-based decisions on farm.

This is becoming increasingly important as we move into a digital world where information is accessible at consumers’ fingertips – we need farm data to be in this same realm. With the new generation coming through, it is no longer enough to have values and show what farmers stand for, we also need to prove it.

During my Nuffield year I spent four months overseas visiting different agriculture companies, farmers, and governments. I came back with a strong understanding of the risks of not integrating our data. Covid-19 has changed our world faster than ever before. There are new standards and requirements to be met that are being imposed by consumers. No longer can we afford to look at siloed data systems.

We should not be afraid of transparency because the world is demanding it. Our consumers are demanding it. If we do not do it the effect will be that we will be told how to farm because we haven’t proved we are better than 10 years ago. I believe we do farm better. But belief does not cut it anymore. For the next generation coming through we need the data and the evidence of our farms to back up our claims.

No country or system I came across has a fully integrated farm data system. In New Zealand we are well placed to try something new around data interoperability because many of our companies are co­operatives and farmer owned. We are in the premium space and need to hold our premium position. We also need to have all the information available to make the best decisions on farm and enable scenario planning and modelling. We should be able to answer questions such as:

• What happens if I put 40 kilograms less fertiliser on per hectare? What does that do to my beef production and revenue line?
• What happens if I invest in cow monitoring technology and then catch mastitis and disease earlier? What does this do to production and revenue?

Consider the emerging discipline of a farm data manager. The farm data manager will work directly with farmers and growers to determine their drivers for farming and to create a data strategy. Every farmer and grower has different needs, drivers, and reasons for being. Different data points interest different farmers. Each farm and farmer or grower require a solution that matches their driver and strategy.

Farmers and growers need a bespoke solution for them – a data manager can assist with this. It is not practicable for every farm to employ a data manager. Instead, a data manager will have a portfolio of farmers and growers they work with to give them a solution that best works for them. We need to try something different to move forward on on-farm data interoperability.

This report proposes establishing a new discipline of the farm data manager. Farmers and growers are not expected to be finance experts instead they outsource this to an accountant to support them. So why are we asking them to be data experts? Instead, a farm data manager can support them.

Keywords for Search: Lucie Douma, Lucy Duma

Early Implementation and the Future of Individual Cow Monitoring Technology in the New Zealand Dairy Industry.

Cameron Burton Kellogg report
Cameron Burton Kellogg report

Executive summary

The New Zealand dairy industry has a labour shortage from managers to farm assistants. This has pushed producers to look for automation options to reduce dependency on labour.

Recent and ongoing improvements have produced large-scale, commercially viable individual cow monitoring technologies that can significantly reduce the workload on farms as well as increase animal performance and health measures. Suppliers of these technologies report a positive return on investment and a reduction in labour
requirements.

The industry has seen significant growth in the uptake and implementation
of these technologies over the last 2-3 years. Implementation of emerging technologies is not always successful; challenges and limitations will exist in a commercial context that are not foreseen during the development or in early trials.
This report will explore the intended application for these technologies and how this
compares with current uptake and implementation at scale on commercial dairy farms.

It will explore areas of successful implementation and areas where obstacles have
reduced performance or prevented the technology to be utilised as expected. Current
and prospective users of the technology need to understand how different technologies in the market are likely to be implemented on their farms. This will help to make informed decisions around which technologies will achieve a more desirable outcome over the long term.

This report will help the suppliers and developers of individual cow monitoring technologies identify areas where their products are not being successfully implemented, and areas for further development to ensure the success of their technology in the New Zealand dairy industry.


A review of national and international literature was undertaken to confirm the accuracy and reliability of the technologies available to ensure they would improve or exceed the status quo of our performance in the New Zealand dairy industry. The review examined the commercial viability of these products and looked to the future of the development and application of individual cow monitoring technologies.

Qualitative, semi-structured interviews then took place with suppliers of the technologies, users, and non-users. Uptake, success and failure, and future development of the technology were examined.

Key Findings

  • The technology is highly accurate and viable for a profitable outcome in a
    commercial large-scale context.
  • All users agreed that the initial application has been successful and the return on investment has been neutral or positive.
  • There is potential for greater return on investment from ongoing training and
    implementation of the full complement of features the technology has to offer.
  • Challenges exist with the usability of the software and the sensitivity of health alerts specific to New Zealand’s outdoor grazing systems.

Recommendations

Producers

  • Develop a user-friendly interface as fast as possible, and regularly connect with users for improvements and future development.
  • Reduce the sensitivity of health alerts and integrate on-farm weather conditions with health alerts to limit false positives from weather events.
  • Ensure recruitment and the training of support staff can meet customer requirements as uptake increases. New support staff could double as sales staff to allow for early recruitment.
  • Outsource and fund third parties for technical support. Farm consultants, vets, farm advisors, and other rural professionals could be used to help educate and review the data.
  • Produce actionable reports/groups of cows from the data to minimise the interpretation and increase action taken on the farm. 

Current and future consumers

  • Prior to implementing any brand of individual cow monitoring technology, research the current and future access to after-sales support and technical specialists to ensure you will have ongoing support. Pay particular attention to your exposure to individual staff moving out of the role and limiting the technical support available.
  • Be prepared to put the time and effort into learning and understanding the software as there is an interpretation of raw data required.
  • Ensure the technology you implement is largely mainstream to ensure support from other users and increase the chances of new employees being familiar with the software.
  • Work with vets and advisors to create protocols and policies to shift from clinical diagnosis to subclinical investigation and diagnosis before clinical illness impacts production and profitability.

Capturing value on-farm.

Megan Fitzgerald Kellogg Research Report
Megan Fitzgerald Kellogg Research Report

Executive summary

More consumers are seeking food products that have credence attributes, such as improved animal welfare outcomes, lower environmental impact, and positive social impacts. Credence attributes cannot be seen or tasted, consumers only know they are being met by information being passed from producer, through the supply chain to them.

Commodity supply chains struggle to pass on accurate, complex information, leaving consumers who are seeking these attributes looking to buy their food through other outlets. Savarese et al., (2020) identified a real opportunity for New Zealand farmers if they are able to connect to these market segments. This research identifies the key requirements a family farm must have to successfully establish and maintain a short value chain.

Coinciding with the growing consumer market, is a risker macro-economic environment where farmers are subjected to tighter margins on commodity markets. Short value chains present opportunities to diversify risk through accessing alternative markets, equity growth without a dependence on acquiring more land, and a way to include more family members in the family farming business.


This research uses semi structured interviews to collect information from family farm businesses who are selling food products directly to consumers. A thematic analysis is carried out to identify the key requirements to consider when establishing a short value chain.

Establishing and sustaining a short value chain is a cyclic process that needs constant realignment between the resources the farm business has and the demands of the customer segment. Farm businesses must have the desire to connect to consumers and the ability to identify opportunities that allow them to connect with consumers in a cost-efficient way.

Success relies on mobilising the businesses resources and establishing a production system that creates a constant supply of quality product. Finally, the business must continually seek opportunities to realign with changing consumer demands and maintain their competitive advantage – which comes back to identifying opportunities.

The defining characteristics of family farm businesses who participate in short value chains is their ability to create and sustain consumer trust. This trust results in consumers who are willing to pay more for their product.

From the analysis of successful short value chains in New Zealand there are a number of recommendations for family farm business wishing to establish and participate in a short value chain.

The key recommendations are to 

  1. establish your family values and align these to customer segments to decrease costs associated with mobilising resources,

  2. spend time creating a production system that produces consistent, quality products that your consumer wants,

  3. connect with your consumers, provide transparency on product details through face-to-face and more permanent marketing such as websites, social media, etc., and

  4. constantly seek feedback and opportunities to better meet your consumer’s needs.

Red meat traceability with blockchain.

William Halliday Kelogg report image
William Halliday Kelogg report image

Executive summary

New Zealand’s agricultural industry has a reputation for being at the forefront of technological innovation.

Challenges such as nutrient deficient soils and distance to market have been met with novel fertilisers and refrigerated shipping. World renowned animal welfare standards and freedom from significant agricultural pests and diseases give our farmers significant advantages compared to their overseas counterparts.

It may be a surprise to learn, therefore, that the means of certifying products and providing assurance to global markets continues to rely on a paper-based system.

Importers must trust the paperwork provided by the exporter. Exporters must trust the paperwork provided by the producer. Producers must trust the paperwork provided by the supplier, and so on. This “one up, one down” traceability is becoming less acceptable to the global market, especially when it comes to food safety and claims of provenance.

A potential solution is to adopt blockchain technology, where a decentralised ledger allows supply-chain-wide visibility of product flows and immutable proof of claims.

While blockchain was developed for, and is still chiefly used in, the field of cryptocurrencies, it has found utility in other sectors including finance and supply chain management. The global diamond trade demands absolute proof of provenance to avoid stones mined using forced labour or where proceeds fund violence – it has found a solution to this using blockchain.

Blockchain has become a technological buzzword which has garnered plenty of attention, confusion, and misunderstanding. The purpose of this research report is to understand what a blockchain is, what it can (and cannot) do, what barriers exist to its adoption in red meat traceability, and what opportunities it presents.

Analysis of the literature and interviews with industry stakeholders leads to the general conclusion that while blockchain has some significant advantages over traditional, centralised databases, there is doubt as its maturity as a technology.

This represents significant risk to those interested in adopting it, and, coupled with the cost of replacing or upgrading systems across the supply chain, it is widely held that existing systems are fit for purpose and to make a shift to blockchain would represent an unnecessary disruption to the industry.

That said, there are potential drivers for blockchain adoption to consider. Government regulations regarding food safety and animal traceability are updated continually and can require the adoption of new technologies (the NAIT Act 2012 for example).

Import requirements are subject to change, especially in the face of food fraud and the global spread of animal and human diseases. Then there is the industry itself, which has an impressive track record of adopting and adapting technologies for the improvement of sustainability and productivity.

The convergence of blockchain with technologies such as the Internet of Things and machine learning could change the way farmers go about their business altogether.

It is therefore recommended that stakeholders in the New Zealand red meat sector keep an open mind to the possibility of adopting blockchain technology and be prepared to invest in further technological innovation as more demands are placed on existing systems. Being “blockchain-ready” will undoubtedly leave the sector better prepared for the future of global red-meat trade.

Partial land use diversification for long term sustainability and resilience of sheep and beef farms.

Lucy Murray Kellogg Report image
Lucy Murray Kellogg Report image

Executive summary

This project was completed to understand if sheep and beef farmers in NZ can use partial land use diversification to improve environmental sustainability and farm business resilience.

The reason this was studied is because farmers in New Zealand are facing environmental, social, institutional, and financial pressures.

Many sheep and beef farmers will likely need to make adaptions to their farm systems to remain profitable, improve environmental sustainability and to create more resilient farm systems for the future. One way of adapting the farm systems is through land use diversification.

A literature review was completed, and a series of farmers and industry professionals were interviewed. This data was then assessed through thematic analysis.

Diversification for agriculture is defined as the addition of another source of farm-based income to the existing income stream and it includes the introduction of additional farming enterprises.

Land use diversification can have numerous benefits in sheep and beef farms including, enhanced environmental outcomes, improved profitability and cash flow, enhanced farm resilience, more succession opportunities and a better integrated farm system.

The downfalls highlighted were increased risk to the farm system during development and early stages of land use change, and the initial financial outlay for development and increased complexity.

To reduce the risks of land use change, a comprehensive planning process is required. Some key steps include business planning and goal setting, understanding the biophysical resources, farm planning, matching the land use to land use capacity, climate and soil conditions, farm system modelling and evaluation and trialling.

If farmers in New Zealand can successfully transition their sheep and beef farms to diversified land use systems, it will likely transform the sheep and beef industry throughout the country to overcome environmental challenges and create long term sustainable and resilient farm systems.

Some recommendations to farmers assess the farm as if it is a blank canvas and understand different land use opportunities within the farm system. More research needs to be done on land use options available for different regions.

There is the opportunity to better understand and develop how farmers could use collaboration and catchment groups to aid in the success of land use diversification.

Conclusions

This study proved that partial land use diversification is a real option, one which sheep and beef farmers should consider for overcoming social, environmental, regulatory and financial pressures.

To de-risk the process of land use diversification, research and planning are crucial. Matching the land use to the capability of the biophysical resources is important for ensuring that there are no negative consequences to the environment.

If land use change is well planned and researched it will likely transform farm systems through improved long term financial performance, improved environmental outcomes and increased farm business resilience. 

There is potential to collaborate with other likeminded farmers and create cooperative models for the sharing of infrastructure, resources, and expertise, however more research needs to be done on this. Overall land use diversification is very important for the agricultural sector in New Zealand.

Recommendations

  • Landowners should assess their farm as if it is a blank canvas, identify production and profitability and limitations of different land management units. This will aid in realising the opportunities and inefficiencies within the farm system. Plus, it might help the farmer to realise that land use diversification is a real opportunity.
  • Research the different land use options you are considering, understand the requirements of the crop and the biophysical resources of your land to ensure you match the land use to the capability of the land. Plan for diversification thoroughly.
  • Develop tools which outline land use options and suit the local climate. These could be developed and maintained by regional councils with the use of local climate data and research into land use options. The tools should be accessible to farmers, this would likely de-risk the process of land use change for farmers and provide them with a starting point when considering land use change.
  • Collaboration could be considered with like-minded farmers to build scale and share resources when changes are made to land use. If they decide to do this investigation planning into corporate governance models is recommended.
  • Case studies should be produced on farmers who have been through the process of land use diversification, these could be done by the regional councils to aid farmers in making the change.