Sowing the Seed for a Brighter Future, that's the theme for the Foundation for Arable Research's (FAR's) fifth International Conference which will be held in Ashburton from 27thto 29thJuly 2010.
The conference will be held at the Ashburton Trust Event Centre, a first-class venue which has hosted a number of high profile events.
The programme consists of a pre-conference cocktail evening on Tuesday 27 July followed by two full days which will be a mix of indoor and in-field presentations. "We are delighted to be hosting a great range of speakers, several from overseas, who will be speaking on an array of relevant, practical topics on arable research and management and ways to capitalise on the changes facing the global arable industry," says Nick Pyke, FAR's Chief Executive.
"This conference will highlight the future potential of NZ arable farming. Sustainable arable production is foremost in producers' minds, as is the incorporation of new technologies and market opportunities.
"This conference will cover these aspects of arable production, for both grain and seed. It is important for the arable industry as a whole to evaluate new market opportunities and maintain up‐to‐date knowledge on all aspects of arable production if the industry is to remain competitive and sustainable."
FAR Board Chairman, Stuart Wright will open the conference at 9am on Wednesday 28 July followed by a session which will focus on future technologies for modern farming systems.
Prof Paul Miller of The Arable Group (TAG) UK is a well renowned agricultural engineer specialising in precision agriculture. Kindly sponsored by Agmardt, Prof Miller will present on the use of precision agriculture focusing on the use of sensor technologies going forward.
Dr Peter Stone is Deputy Chief of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) Sustainable Ecosystems. Peter has extensive expertise in the area of crop models and will be sharing his knowledge with growers on the role they play in our modern farming systems of today.
Other topics at the forefront of growers' minds such as pests and pollination, climate change, advances in agronomy and a global outlook will be covered at length.
ProfessorRod Smithis presently NCEA Professor of Resource Engineering and Head,Agricultural, Civil and Environmental Engineeringat the University of Southern Queensland in Toowoomba. Professor Smith will be talking about the future of irrigation followed by Dr David Wratt, Chief Climate Scientist who is responsible for the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research's (NIWA) National Climate Centre who will explain to growers the impacts, adaptation and vulnerability associated with climate change.
Dr Donald Reicosky, former Research Soil Scientist for the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has kindly agreed to join us to discuss soil carbon matters and outlook. He will be joined by Dr Jeff Baldock of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) who talk to growers about the benefits of being able to quickly identify individual soil carbon pools.
Cameron Bagrie is Chief Economist for the ANZ National Bank. Cameron was well received by growers and industry personnel at the FAR International Conference in 2007; we're delighted to announce that he has once again agreed to join us at our 2010 conference where he will again highlight the bank's economic forecasts for the New Zealand arable industry
Sponsors of the conference include:Platinum Sponsors:Power Farming and Syngenta,Gold Sponsors:PGG Wrightson, Bayer Crop Science, National Bank, BASF and Ravensdown andsilver sponsors:Brown Glassford, Gough Agritech, Agrimedia, New Zealand Seedlab, Ballance, Agri Optics, Trimble and Agmardt and Pcaso Ltd. Nick Pyke, FAR's Chief Executive comments, "On behalf of FAR I'd like to extend my thanks to all our sponsors for their continued support. This is extremely important in the running of our International Conference and as such, allows us to create and very valuable and motivating conference to New Zealand arable growers and industry personnel."
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