NORTHERN IRELAND TEAM STUDIES NEW ZEALAND BEEF REARING TECHNOLOGY.

On-farm benchmarking techniques employed by many New Zealand farmers to improve productivity were outlined to members of a 25-strong Invest Northern Ireland delegation in Dunedin at the start of a 10-day visit to the country. The Northern Ireland group was briefed by local industry leaders including Aaron Meikle, a senior executive of New Zealand Meat and Wool, about technology applied by farmers there. Taking part in the briefing for red meat taskforce/primary group members in the Northern Ireland delegation were John Carson of the National Beef Association, Sean Fitzpatrick and Owen Cunningham of NIAPA, Edward Adamson and Crosby Cleland of the National Sheep Association, Mike Tempest from the Livestock and Meat Commission, Sam Kennedy of CAFRE, and Harry Sinclair, Willie Taylor and David Thompson of the Ulster Farmers' Union. The briefing explored how the collection and interpretation of good quality data from the latest technology could help in reducing costs and in improving yields. Peter McArdle, Invest NI's mission manager, said: ???The briefing provided important information on the application of innovative and new technologies on-farm to save time, costs and lead to improvements in productivity and competitiveness. Technologies being applied successfully on New Zealand farms include innovative animal handling/weighing equipment; GPS technology; electronic tagging and on-farm data collection. ???It led to a very stimulating dialogue between the Northern Ireland team and our New Zealand hosts. Over the next few days the Northern Ireland group will be able to see the technologies in operation on farm visits that we've arranged as part of our intensive focus on promoting best practice in Northern Ireland.??? The first farm visited by the group was Traquair Station at Outram, a 15,000 acre farm with beef, sheep and deer, where the delegation saw the latest livestock and crop management technologies in operation. Meanwhile, dairy members of the Northern Ireland delegation had a separate itinerary which included a visit to Synlait in Canterbury, one of New Zealand's biggest dairies. Over 80 visits and meetings are scheduled for the dairy and beef groups during the visit, the biggest-ever from Northern Ireland to New Zealand. The intensive programme includes visits to farms, processing plants in dairying, beef, lamb and venison, as well as a series of briefings from industry groups and university experts. Visiting the Synlait plant in Canterbury were David Dobbin, Chief Executive of United Dairy Farmers, Eamonn Donnelly, Group Development Manager of United Dairy Farmers, Tim Acheson, General Manager of Pritchitts, Maimie Neill, Farm Liaison Officer at Fivemiletown Creamery, and John Thompson of the Ulster Farmers' Union. Peter Curran, Invest NI, said: ???Synlait is an excellent example of a sharply focused strategic approach to export growth. This company is moving to become New Zealand's first genuine cow-to-customer dairy export business. ???Synlait produces more than 50 million litres of milk annually and is currently expanding its operations to double production, one per cent of New Zealand's total milk production. ???It is also developing its business by expanding milk powder production and high-value functional ingredients to the world's leading functional food manufacturers. It is focusing resources to take total control over production, processing, marketing and distribution. This will guarantee customers absolute food safety, security and traceability.??? The dairy group also visited Westland Milk Products, Canterbury Cheesemongers, a producer of handmade cheeses, and the South Island Dairying Development Centre at Lincoln University, a specialist in dairying technology.