Judges decide no winner in Rotorua Land Innovation Challenge 11 Jun 2014 “A competition aimed at finding viable alternative land uses for landowners in the Lake Rotorua catchment did not find a winner. While several entries for the Innovation Challenge … Continue reading
The following link has a 40min presentation from Mike Barton that is recommended viewing if you are interested in how nutrient capping may affect future agriculture activities in NZ. http://beeflambnz.com/news-events/News/2013/july/farming-with-nutrient-limits/ An important biochar related take from this presentation is how … Continue reading
Kathleen Draper, US CHARector at Ithaka Institute for Carbon Intelligence, has provided this link on the Biochar Farms & Gardens site to a study that should be of interest to the NZ dairy farming industry. This is further reinforcement of the … Continue reading
Opinion: Where is agriculture’s place in a low-carbon economy? One important focus area for biochar in NZ is water quality butting up against intensive dairy. Maybe this could be addressed in the future with more research on riparian margin biochar … Continue reading
Recommended viewing. A few missed opportunities in the first half for incorporating biochar applications but about 30min in, Dr Todd starts discussing soil formation and biochar. … Continue reading
Last night, Prime TV aired the third episode of ‘Keeping it Pure’ which was focused on water… “Most of New Zealand’s monitored waterways are polluted, but how has this happened and is it possible to turn things around?” I think … Continue reading
An opportunity here for to get biochar understanding into an expert panel. This Waikato river quality program should be well funded and should include support for biochar nutrient management research. My June posts are probably connected with this new initiative… … Continue reading
How will the application of biochar in NZ soils affect nutrient flows in farming and agriculture systems? How would these changes affect the assumptions used in Overseer? Maybe after further research in NZ on nutrient retention and the environment benefits … Continue reading
When I look back at posts on the temporary BIG-NZ G+ site, there are common threads around pastoral farming, water quality, nutrient management. I believe biochar should have a stronger profile related to these issues in NZ. There is strong … Continue reading
The following article is one of many I’ve seen that have biochar research opportunities blazing at me. Facilitating for more field based research could be one of our roles in the future. I look forward to seeing your comments on … Continue reading