We have also written a series of learning courses on our new website. You’ll have to sign up (for free) to access them because a login is needed to keep track of your progress. And there are some self-test questions to help reinforce the messages if you’d like to check your understanding.

Course 1 Nutrient management for vegetable crops covers nutrient management principles, taking representative samples, and nitrogen as a special case.

Course 2 is “How to run an on-farm fertiliser rate trial”. It is based on the “On-Farm Trial Guide” and covers the 10 point plan for running a successful trial.

Our next section is focused on fertiliser equipment calibration. We’ve already got some video in the can thanks to Extremekid Productions.

The post Vegetable Production Nitrogen Management appeared first on LandWISE Staging.

We have been delighted to have Bridgette Haldane working with us this summer, with support from Callaghan Innovation. A Hawke’s Bay local, Bridgette is studying agriculture at Massey University.

We have a major soil health and soil fertility programme this season. We are doing baseline measurements at the MicroFarm, and we have eight process crop paddocks with nitrate rate trials underway. Many of our soil samples are taken to 90 cm, so Bridgette’s enthusiasm for hard fieldwork is a real bonus!

While with us, Bridgette has been assisting with our Best Management of Nitrates in Process Cropping project, doing Nitrate Quick tests, VSA soil assessments, MicroFarm baseline testing and site maintenance, running a small greenhouse trial investigating the effects of two additives on sweetcorn germination and initial growth, trialling a new soil slaking test, helping make training videos and doing some work in our Nano-vineyard. We’ve also given her a couple of topics to research and summarise, a bonus on some of our wetter days!

The post Bridgette – our 2022-23 Summer Intern appeared first on LandWISE Staging.

We are delighted to have Alex on board, with her strong background in nutrient management and a focus on sustainable production systems.

The local farms are part of the second year of our “Best Management Practice of Nitrates in Process Cropping” project funded by MPI through the Sustainable Farming Fund, with co-funding and support from Hawke’s Bay Regional Council, Kraft-Heinz Watties and McCain Foods. As with everyone else, the wet spring has delayed many plantings, but we have six trials established, with two more green bean crops to be planted in January.

We began an extension to our “Future Proofing Vegetable Production” project in July. That is making a series of online learning resources, based on the lessons from the Future Proofing Vegetable Production work in Gisborne and Horowhenua. Alex stars in two new videos, which can be viewed on our new-look website.

Alex is also managing a new trial that will be announced shortly. A lot of preliminary work behind the scenes and a huge amount of baseline sampling in the field has kept everyone very busy for the last few months.

The post Welcome Alex appeared first on LandWISE Staging.