North Canterbury News: March 12, 2020
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RURAL LIFE —SPRAYING<br />
32 <strong>North</strong> <strong>Canterbury</strong> <strong>News</strong>, <strong>March</strong> <strong>12</strong>, <strong>2020</strong><br />
Spraying contractors<br />
await wet weather<br />
2203815-<strong>12</strong>/9<br />
By DAVID HILL<br />
<strong>North</strong> <strong>Canterbury</strong> spraying<br />
contractors are watching the<br />
heavensfor rain clouds as thelatest<br />
season picks up.<br />
Local contractors spokentoby<br />
<strong>North</strong> <strong>Canterbury</strong> <strong>News</strong> lastweeksay<br />
thisseason has beenamixed bagso<br />
far.<br />
HydeSpraying ownerAndrew<br />
Hydesays conditions aregetting abit<br />
dry at present.<br />
‘‘Atthe moment we’re sprayingthe<br />
bugsonkaleand waitingonthe rain<br />
beforewedosome cropspraying.<br />
‘‘The cropsare doing well. There<br />
was goodestablishment in the<br />
spring, so it wasverybusy early on<br />
and then it gotdry.<br />
‘‘But that’s normalaroundhere.<br />
Before irrigation it wasbrownfor<br />
three months.’’<br />
Overall, Andrewsays it hasbeen a<br />
reasonableseason and most farmers<br />
he has spokentoseem to be ‘‘pretty<br />
happy’’with howthe seasonis<br />
tracking.<br />
Godfrey PestManagementdirector<br />
Wayne Godfrey sayshis company is<br />
enjoying abusy season.<br />
Ph: 0800 888 308<br />
WEED SPRAYING<br />
•Gorse &Broom<br />
•Industrial Yards<br />
•Lifestyle Blocks<br />
Amuri<br />
Helicopters<br />
info@amurihelicopters.co.nz<br />
www.amurihelicopters.co.nz<br />
Proudly supporting the conservation of our local environment.<br />
•Horse Paddocks<br />
•Horse Arenas<br />
•Training Tracks<br />
‘‘We’re really justflatout with<br />
spraying gorse and broom in the high<br />
country —wecallitagrowing<br />
industry! There’salwayssomething<br />
to do.’’<br />
Wayne likes to encourage farmers<br />
to have aplanfor controlling weeds<br />
andpests, ratherthan lettingitget<br />
outofcontrol.<br />
‘‘Thekey to weed controlishaving<br />
astrategic sustainedmanagement<br />
plan, as opposed to acrisisresponse<br />
programme.<br />
‘‘Some farmers just leave it and<br />
then it getsout of control, but if you<br />
keep on top of it youactuallysave<br />
money in the longrun.’’<br />
Gilchrist Brothers director Peter<br />
Gilchrist saysthisseason has beena<br />
little quieter than usual,withless<br />
bugspraying needed.<br />
‘‘It was slightly wetterthan normal<br />
at the start of theseason and we<br />
haven’t hadthe bug pressure.<br />
‘‘Once it getsdry they normally<br />
hone in on thecrops, but we haven’t<br />
been as busy thisyear.<br />
‘‘We arejust waiting for abit more<br />
rain andsome moisture beforewedo<br />
theautumnsowing. Thingswill pick<br />
up then.Itwon’tbefar away.’’<br />
•Mowing &Topping<br />
•General Vegetation<br />
Control<br />
Godfrey Pest Management Limited<br />
Registered Chemical Applicator R1550<br />
Contact: WAYNE GODFREY P: 027 232 6791 E: wayne@godfrey.net.nz<br />
Skyhigh technology ... Farmers are gaining access to equipment that saves them time,<br />
money and exposure to pesticides.<br />
PHOTO: SUPPLIED<br />
Robotics technology<br />
making its mark<br />
By MARK ROSS, Agcarm chief executive<br />
From weeding and spraying crops to<br />
taking careofcattle,digital technology is<br />
making its mark on agriculture.<br />
Selfdriven vehicles are picking and<br />
grading fruit as well as detecting and<br />
pollinatingflowers.Now, the latest<br />
technologyinvolvesdetectingand<br />
managing disease —helpingfarmers to<br />
become more productive and sustainable.<br />
Modern agricultural machinestake<br />
away some of the moretimeconsuming<br />
tasksand help to protect crops from<br />
disease with exactdoses and targeted<br />
applications of products.<br />
In the past decade, there has been an<br />
unprecedented growthinprecision<br />
farming, with about80% of new farm<br />
equipment using it. This advanced digital<br />
precision technology can help farmers to<br />
use land efficientlyand maximise harvests<br />
whilereducing costs and workloads.<br />
Robotic technology makes it possible to<br />
detect the preciselocation of weeds or<br />
disease and spray only the affected area.<br />
That means lower costs, lower<br />
environmental impactand amore<br />
abundant harvest.<br />
Farmers using advanceddigital<br />
precision technology reportreducing<br />
herbicide use by 10% and diesel by 20%.<br />
Thanks to digital connectivity, smart farm<br />
equipment can provide farmers withfieldspecific<br />
information from cloudbased<br />
farm management software. Sensors<br />
collect datafrom adistance to evaluate soil<br />
and crop health and identify the presence<br />
of pests or diseases.<br />
Agriculturaldrone technology has been<br />
improving in the past few years. Drones<br />
allowfarmerstoconstantly monitorcrop<br />
and livestock conditions —oftenmore<br />
reliably than manual inspections. Drones<br />
mainly capture imagesand providedata,<br />
but they also monitor crops from planting<br />
to harvest, helpingfarmerstoreact faster<br />
to threatssuchasweeds,insects and fungi.<br />
This data is processed andtranslated<br />
into informationonplant health and pest<br />
infestations.Data can then be entered into<br />
smart machinery to adjustthe amount of<br />
pesticideused for afield. This saves time<br />
and improves the application of variable<br />
inputrates in realtime.<br />
Dronescan also be used to apply<br />
pesticides. Aerialspraying in Japan and<br />
China is done by drones. In Europe, they<br />
are used to distributebiological agents<br />
such as wasp eggs.<br />
The potential for drones is skyhigh.<br />
Waterresistantdrones can monitorany<br />
type of crop,inany geographical area, in<br />
any weather.<br />
They can also get higherquality and<br />
more precise imagesinreal time as they<br />
fly belowthe clouds and have high photo<br />
resolution —far superior to satellites,<br />
which take pictures only once aweek or<br />
month and don’t work well when it’s<br />
cloudy.<br />
The useofagricultural drones willgrow<br />
significantly in comingyears as theyoffer<br />
awide range of applications that improve<br />
precision farming. They can potentially<br />
replace the human applicationof<br />
pesticides, minimising farmer exposure.<br />
That’ssome highflyingtechnology that<br />
will hopefully be available in New Zealand<br />
sometime soon.<br />
Agcarm is the industry association for<br />
companies that manufacture and<br />
distribute cropprotection and animal<br />
healthproducts.<br />
For all your<br />
Spraying &Fertiliser& Requirements<br />
Proof ofplacement mapping<br />
p Hide Spraying Ltd<br />
Registered Chemical Applicators<br />
Established 1947<br />
Ph Andrew 027 437 2006<br />
or 03 313 5278<br />
or Graham 027 433 3786<br />
or 03 313 7723<br />
www.hidespraying.co.nz<br />
2202683
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