Southland Times: New Zealand farmers told to embrace advancements in technology development

Mark Hotton writes in the Southland Times about a speech by AgResearch’s Dr Jason Archer in which he outlined several technologies which could help improve New Zealand’s meat production.

While New Zealand will never be able to produce meat as cheaply as some other countries, technologies are being developed which could help farmers to sustainably continue, although he cautioned that ongoing funding would be needed to fully develop the technologies.

An excerpt: (read in full here)

“While input costs were rising, New Zealand farmers had access to technology that could help sustainably lift productivity and profitability, and respond to market requirements, while protecting the environment and long-term future, he said.

“But he warned technology could not be switched on today and produce something tomorrow – significant investment was needed so any product or technique could be developed from basic research through to application stage.

“An example was a current study into how the nutrients of a foetus could be tweaked to influence its performance. This technology had a possible introduction date of 2025, but if this type of research was not carried out – or funded – the benefits would never be seen.”