Gerald Piddock | September 24, 2026
https://www.farmersweekly.co.nz/technology/ai-opens-new-doors-for-nz-agriculture/
AI technology offers huge opportunities for the primary sector in terms of knowledge sharing, genetics and consumer demand for healthy land-based products. Photo: Dreamstime
AI technology is removing the tyranny of distance that the New Zealand primary sector used to face in getting ideas and products to the rest of the world, NZ Young Farmers CEO Cheyne Gillooly says.
It will allow the rapid uptake of the huge amount of research in dairy, sheep and plant genetics that is sitting on shelves around the country – something that previously would have taken years.
“The pace we are able to innovate and generate new products that come from the land means we can unlock the value that’s been sitting there for decades,” Gillooly said at a media roundtable event at a Cloud and AI Day, hosted by Amazon Web Services in Auckland.
“And then if you look at where the future is going in terms of what humans want, they want tangible, they want trust and that’s what New Zealand has in spades.”
Technology and value used to be driven by speed and that is being replaced by values around human health, wellbeing and land-based products.
“With our genetics sitting on top of that, New Zealand is sitting on a goldmine.”
The sector is on the brink of a really exciting time with knowledge becoming ubiquitous, he said.
The past challenges around the time it took for research and productivity in order to get something to the market will disappear.
“AI is going to make those happen in seconds, potentially.”
The next generation of farmers are recognising these opportunities.
They are far more connected with technology, using it to stay in touch with local communities and the network of Young Farmers clubs, he said.
“They spend a lot of time on devices, they spend a lot of time talking and a whole lot of time thinking and digesting what those opportunities are and now we’re seeing that playing through into action.”
Lone Star Farms stock manager Carey Pawson-Edwards said in his time, technology has changed from him manually examining lambs individually to decide if they were ready for processing to using an auto-weigher to assess 1400 at a time.
Pasture measuring has changed from plate metering to towing a C-Dax machine on the back of an ATV, to having cover data on his phone via Halter.
“The big shift has been heading from a mob approach to an individual animal approach. Instead of looking at 1000 lambs in a mob, we’re looking at 1000 individual animals.”
Ravensdown chief digital officer Mark McAtamney said technology has had a similar impact in nutrient management. The days of farmers applying blanket on-farm applications and soil testing on individual paddocks are being replaced by measuring zones within paddocks.
It is increasing productivity while being aware of environmental sustainability.
Halter vice-president for product and engineering Andrew McLaren said a great example of how technology has changed farming is pasture management, with Halter technology now able to get daily six metre square “pasture pixel” measurements across an entire farm.
What comes next will be the feedback loop, which is identifying the data and its impact on the farm, he said.