Digital Farm Environment Plan (dFEP)
Project start: 5 November 2021
Project completed: 4 November 2022
MPI funding: $490,480
Industry funding: $330,000
Industry partner: Trust Alliance
Region: National
The research project focused on developing a system to help farmers manage their farm data more effectively and efficiently. Based on feedback from extensive stakeholder engagement, a concept prototype of a digital enterprise farm wallet was created. This enables farmers to create trusted, verifiable farm environment planning data that can be easily shared with multiple third parties from a single source.
Digital farm environment planning to simplify admin for farmers – Government media release
Branching Out – diversifying land use and adding to Taranaki’s food and fibre value chains
Project start: 26 February 2020
Project completed: September 2022
MPI funding: $594,800
Industry funding: $319,000
Industry partner: Venture Taranaki
Region: Taranaki
‘Branching Out’ aimed to diversify food and fibre value chains to generate better economic, social and environmental outcomes for Taranaki. Phase 1 identified a number of feasible sectors with potential to add diversification value. SFF Futures is now supporting Phase 2 of this project, which will work in 6 sectors and apply the information practically, to prove that diversification is possible.
New programme to boost high-value products in Taranaki – Government media release
Branching out – Venture Taranaki
Benchmarking agricultural digital adoption enabling growth
Project start: 1 June 2021
Project completed: 31 May 2022
MPI funding: $121,667
Industry funding: $172,167
Industry partner: New Zealand Technology Industry Association Inc
Region: National
Digital agriculture represents a significant opportunity to enhance the economic, environmental, and social outcomes of New Zealand’s food and fibre sector. This project developed a baseline of digital adoption to better understand the motivations, pressures and barriers farmers and growers face in adopting new tools. It provided actionable insights for businesses, industry groups and public agencies to develop strategies to support farmers and growers.
Agritech baseline of digital adoption in primary industries report - AgriTech New Zealand
Farming 2030
Project start: 8 May 2020
Project completed: 11 December 2020
MPI funding: $38,500
Industry funding: $29,175
Industry partner: Tasman Environmental Trust
Region: Nelson
The Farming 2030 project combined active community engagement with a pilot farm in Golden Bay to develop a holistic sustainable farming model. The insights from this project have been captured in two reports. One report outlines how permaculture thinking can be applied to a commercial dairy farm environment, and the other provides advice for improved soil health using regenerative farming techniques.
Download the Farming 2030 reports
Eat New Zealand digital food experience platform
Project start: 18 March 2020
Project completed: 15 January 2021
MPI funding: $200,000
Industry funding: $50,000
Industry partner: Eat NZ
Region: Nationwide
Eat NZ undertook a 6-month feasibility study for a digital solution to tell New Zealand’s food story, both locally and internationally. The solution would connect travellers and buyers with actual and virtual food and food experiences. The study showed that it is financially and technically feasible, and identified and quantified the markets. Eat NZ is now seeking funding to make the project a reality.
Open Farms
Project start: 13 February 2020
Project completed: 5 July 2021
MPI funding: $50,000
Industry funding: $160,000
Industry partner: Open Farms Ltd
Region: Nationwide
SFF Futures supported a nationwide, cross-sector Open Farm Day experience designed to reconnect urban Kiwis with the people and places that grow our food. Despite COVID-19 disruption in 2021, the project attracted high levels of engagement, positive responses from host farms and visitors, and positive results on building social licence for farming. Eighty-two events were held during the open days in 2020 and 2021, attracting more than 6,000 visitors.
Supporting NZ young farmers
Project start: 11 December 2019
Project completed: 11 June 2020
MPI funding: $72,000
Industry funding: $54,350
Industry partner: The NZ Federation of Young Farmers Clubs Inc
Region: Nationwide
This project evaluated the business need for a digital solution to support young people in the food and fibres sector. This platform would connect the young people to a range of services and resources, such as career guidance, leadership opportunities, mental health and wellbeing support, employment and experience opportunities.
Puāwaitia te Takapau Horanui
Project start: 3 September 2019
Project completed: 31 March 2020
MPI funding: $99,990
Industry funding: $36,410
Industry partner: Ngāti Pāhauwera Development Trust
Region: Hawke’s Bay
This project (part one of a four-phase plan) brought together a collective of Māori farms from across Hawke’s Bay to assess the use of long range, wide area network (LoRaWAN) infrastructure to support the deployment of sensor technology to rurally remote areas.
