Welcome to our latest newsletter.
We have some exciting news to announce - we have changed our name to the Smart Farming Group and are currently developing the Smart Farming Program.
Our Purpose
The purpose of the Smart Farming Program is to promote and measure smart farming initiatives and techniques which encourage sustainable land management.
Stakeholder Consultation
To begin with we undertook a rigorous rural stakeholder consultation, to see if we were on the right track and to gain support for our program. The types of groups we consulted with were:
Banks, Regional Councils, Government departments, Farming industry bodies, NGO’s, Farming co-operative, Processors, Farmers, Farm advisors, Research body, Fertilizer companies
We received very constructive feedback requiring us to modify our direction to fit with other programs and organisations who are doing very good work in farm monitoring.
After the consultation we found that our niche is in providing three main objectives:
- Independent promotion of smart farming initiatives which encourage sustainable land management
- Develop and implement easy to use measurement and tracking systems to support the adoption of sustainable land management practices.
- Build knowledge and discussion of sustainable land management through publications and forums
Work with existing networks
We aim to work with others not create more people in this space by providing the program to existing land based practitioners and advisers.
Website
The hub for the Smart Farming Program will be our website. A place holder has been developed and can be viewed here:
www.smartfarms.org.nz
Feedback
At any stage we would welcome any feedback or questions on what we are up to.
Regards,
Clayton Wallwork
clayton@smartfarms.org.nz
0800 123 733