Field day on annual Legumes in Marlborough, Presidents conference address, NZGT award winners
Our second newsletter this month includes a report from the NZ Grassland Trust on their activities plus a short note on earthworms.
This month we highlight the farmers experience at the International Grassland Congress, held in Sydney in September.
the second in a series on systems thinking as its role in agricultural research by Dr David Stevens.
The UK invests in agricultural innovation and aims to lead the world; eco-deficiency of sheep and beef farms; a new NZGA Exec member and an invitation to participate in a FAO Grassland E-Conference
There is a theme in this newsletter of facts, data, monitoring and measurement. In addition we look at the management issues of pasture recovery after the drought.
Systems research in farming is often defined by the use of modelling or farmlet experiments. Both of these approaches get criticised. Modelling is often criticised as lacking in depth while farmlet studies suffer from lack of replication and scientific power. Systems thinking and research goes well beyond both approaches. We need to understand the extent of systems thinking and research so that we can make the most of the tremendous power that can be harnessed by this approach. This is the first of a series of articles that provides some context and debate around the role of systems thinking and research in our understanding of grassland farming.
Systems research in farming is often defined by the use of modelling or farmlet experiments. Both of these approaches get criticised. Modelling is often criticised as lacking in depth while farmlet studies suffer from lack of replication and scientific power. Systems thinking and research goes well beyond both approaches. We need to understand the extent of systems thinking and research so that we can make the most of the tremendous power that can be harnessed by this approach. This is the first of a series of articles that provides some context and debate around the role of systems thinking and research in our understanding of grassland farming.
Managing in the dry, planning, pasture management recovery and renovation
NZGA responds to claims about urea and DCD that aren't supported by the science
In this newsletter: A brief description of the meta-analysis approach, are fewer cows but better fed the answer to N issues? NZGT award winners, Farmer travel awards for the IGC 2013 in Sydney