I’m Dayne Paton, Agronomist at Connings Farm on the Waimea Plains, top of the South Island.
I keep an eye on the crops week to week, spotting any issues before they turn into bigger problems. I manage our soil and leaf sampling, run field trials on new varieties, agrichemicals and fertilisers, and make sure our records stay accurate and up to date. I also work alongside our nursery manager on quality and disease checks, liaise with our seed suppliers, and help keep the team safe and working to best practice.
Background
I grew up here on the Waimea Plains on a kiwifruit orchard that actually neighbours the Connings Farm – so in a way, this role has been a case of getting back to my roots. I enjoyed the ag/hort classes at high school and went on to study a Bachelor of Agricultural Science at Lincoln University, with a focus on plant and soil science. In my final year, I completed an honours dissertation on dry rot control in swedes.
After university, I spent five years at PGG Wrightson in Rangiora as a Technical Field Representative, working mainly with forage crops – grass/clover pastures, forage brassicas, fodder beet, oats, barley and lucerne. My wife and I then headed off on our OE, working in England and travelling Europe for a year and a half, before moving back to Nelson to be closer to family as we start our own.
Connings Farm is a well-known, family-owned market farm here in the top of the South, that has been operating for 40+ years, with two stores in the region. When I saw they were hiring an agronomist for the farm, I knew it was a great opportunity to get hands-on in a forward-thinking business. They haven’t disappointed, and I’m looking forward to growing my career in horticulture alongside them.
Industry challenges
Across the primary sector producing more with less is a big challenge, whether it is fertilisers, sprays or competition for land. Getting more from the soil we grow on while using less inputs is no small task. However, it is just as much an opportunity for people in roles like mine to embrace new technologies and new ideas backed by sound science.
Where is Connings Farm heading
As Connings Farm, we are always looking ahead, to stay competitive and keep giving our customers the best quality produce, at a fair price, with lower inputs. There’s plenty happening in the industry right now, and we’re keen to bring as much of it onto the farm as we can.
We’ve already seen a big shift from chemicals to biologicals in new spray registrations, which comes with it better research and advice on how to implement them. Alongside thorough scouting and careful timing, these options help manage resistance, reduce our reliance on chemical control, and lift the overall quality of our produce.
We’re also bringing cover crops into our rotation. We’re still learning how they fit and how best to manage them, but we’re already seeing the benefits – oats and grass mixed with legumes on fallow ground to improve soil health, and flowering annuals in our spray rows to provide nectar for beneficial insects.
After a couple of years running our automatic planting machine, we’re now looking at autonomous weeding machines, with laser weeders the most exciting. There are several companies developing the technology in this space; with the capability already impressive, it’s exciting to think where this will be in another five years. We’re looking forward to having it on the Connings Farm before too long.
