agriculture

In this activity, students explore ethical issues related to farming and environmental pollution. They learn about the science involved and the range of perspectives among stakeholders....

Position: Senior scientist, Land and Environment group, AgResearch, Invermay, Mosgiel. Field: Soil scientist. Dr Ross Monaghan is a senior scientist for the Land and Environment Group...

Positions: Professor – Lincoln University, Principal Scientist – AgResearch, Chief Scientist – National Science Challenge: Our Land and Water. Field: Soil and water quality. Professor Richard...

Position: Stakeholder Relationship Manager for Māori Agribusiness, (formerly Scientist), AgResearch. Field: Environmental science (soil) Dr Selai Letica’s interest is in soil nitrogen cycling in agriculture. She...

Farming is an economic venture – farmers work the land to gain an income. Many New Zealand farmers have an interest in preserving and enhancing the...

Farming is a way of life in New Zealand. Farms cover about half of the country’s land and are important to our economy. Agriculture has shaped...

Phosphorus is a chemical element found on Earth in numerous compound forms, such as the phosphate ion (PO43-), located in water, soil and sediments. The quantities...

Biogeochemistry is a big word. Biogeochemistry also covers an enormous field of study. It is a systems science – a way of looking at how the...

New Zealand has a wide variety of landscapes. A day’s sightseeing journey might include volcanic plateaus, rolling hills, river basins and coastal lands. It is easy...

Dr Ross Monaghan, Dr Selai Letica, Professor Richard McDowell and other scientists from AgResearch at Invermay are researching how to reduce excessive levels of nutrients in...

Dr Richard McDowell from AgResearch at Invermay is concerned about phosphorus being lost from the soil and causing water pollution via eutrophication. Phosphorus – necessary in...

An online search of the word ‘scientist’ produces about 127 million results. Interestingly, the same search for images yields variations of a single representation – you...

New Zealand has had a reputation for being ‘clean and green’ – a country of environmental beauty. Compared to many countries in the world, this is...

What do soil, farming and science have to do with each other? Actually, they are inextricably related. For centuries, humans have used science to improve soil...

AgResearch scientists have generated transgenic cows with biomedical and agricultural applications. Here, we list potential applications of transgenic cows and describe how a transgenic farm might...

Scientists at AgResearch in New Zealand have successfully produced healthy transgenic cows that make modified milk or human therapeutic proteins in their milk. What is a...

Students consider the harms and benefits (consequences) of easy care sheep breeding. Purpose Students use a round robin activity and PMI worksheets to generate ideas about...

Students use a three-level reading guide strategy to locate, interpret and apply the information to consider the role of research in finding easy care sheep traits....

To breed easy care sheep, scientists at AgResearch first had to find sheep that expressed the traits they wanted – they did this in stages. To...

New Zealand sheep farming has been heavily influenced by fluctuations in demand and returns for meat and wool. Discover what other factors have contributed to this...

Easy care sheep developed by AgResearch were produced using selective breeding. Find out more about selective breeding and why scientists use this method to breed the...

Easy care sheep, developed by AgResearch, have been selectively bred to be more productive and less labour-intensive for farmers. Our collection of resources on this reveals...

In this activity, students measure the pH of soil collected from a paddock. This will be used to estimate the amount of agricultural lime needed to...

We all need protein to live and stay healthy. However, many protein sources are becoming an increasingly expensive way to meet our needs – both economically...