Note: Numbering error in title. This is Update 13 originally posted January 2020. Greetings everyone, It has been just over a year now since we first released the horehound moths, so it must be a good time to assess where they are at. Plume moth – no big news yet This one was supposed to … Read more
It is hard to remember, here in December, what’s happened to end this decade Is it just me, or is it harder to see, that truthful news is a luxury beginning to fade Say what you like, the main tactic of the right, to boldly lie is no longer a crime Do a Donald the … Read more
Presentation on Hill Country Management by Professor Derrick Moot (Dryland Pastures Research team, Lincoln University) to the New Zealand Institute of Agricultural and Horticultural Science (NZIAHS) forum on the “Impact of changing landscapes on primary production” held at Lincoln University, New Zealand on 23/10/2019. (approx 26 mins including questions). An accompanying PDF of the presentation … Read more
Posted on Behalf of Prof Derrick Moot: I recently provided peer review for the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environments report on “Farms, forestry and fossil fuels: The next great landscape transformation?“. It rightly points out that the greatest source of greenhouse gas emissions is from turning fossil carbon (oil and coal) into atmospheric carbon dioxide. … Read more
Professor Moot was pleased to see the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, Simon Upton, has outlined his concerns about Overseer being used in a regulatory context. Prof Moot has critiqued that report and believes there are also further issues related to the use of this model in farm environmental plans. He believes Overseer is a … Read more
It is this year, the world did declare, state sponsored murder became a new fashion A poisoned perfume, in which to resume, a cold war of killing without compassion An English small town, Russian exiles struck down, the Skripals attacked by touring spies But Mr Putin you see, told us all on TV, t’was a … Read more
Greetings everyone, November has been a busy month on the horehound biocontrol front, and it ain’t over just yet! Field day and site searching Earlier in the month we were lucky to host horehound biocontrol expert John Weiss from Australia. John joined us to present at a field day as part of the NZ Grasslands … Read more
“Keep sowing legumes” that’s the message from Professor Moot in response to farmers who have been advised not to put lucerne in their dryland farms because their Farm Environmental Plan shows they leak more nitrogen. Prof Moot considers this a perverse situation caused by using Overseer – he contends the model is an inappropriate tool … Read more
Greetings everyone, We have fantastic news to share with you – our application to release two species of moths for the biological control of horehound was granted approval by the EPA! We were expecting to find out the results only late in September, so receiving the news this early is thrilling. You can read the … Read more
This presentation was made by Prof Derrick Moot on 31 Aug 2018 at the European Society of Agronomy Conference held in Geneva, Switzerland. The presentation discusses the process of moving from a data driven research program to development new grazing management rules for grazing alfalfa through to on-farm adoption of a new system to increase … Read more