New Zealand’s largest exporter of premium quality lamb, beef, and venison products, Silver Fern Farms has teamed with technology company Lynker Analytics to form a new joint venture called Prism Earth Ltd (Prism).
Prism will draw on expertise and know-how from both partners to support producers in the primary sector as they face critical challenges in the decades ahead. These challenges include a changing climate, meeting emissions targets, diversifying revenue streams, and changing buyer behaviour around nutrition sustainability.
Prism will deliver an integrated set of capabilities including carbon mapping, climate risk analysis and land use simulation to help farmers understand, budget for, and adapt to these challenges.
Lynker Analytics Executive Director Matt Lythe, says -
The Prism team will be powered by Lynker Analytics allowing us to exploit sensor data, Artificial Intelligence (AI), geospatial analytics and visualisation software to deliver these services.
Prism will enhance and extend the predictive analytics and mapping technology developed by Lynker Analytics, including the award-winning Net Zero Carbon Mapping System. This advanced system leverages remote sensing and AI to accurately map, classify, and determine the age of woody vegetation on grazing land at sub-hectare scales.
Future climate changes have the potential to significantly alter land use. As climatic conditions evolve, we can expect shifts in pasture yields, rising summer water demands, more variable nitrate leaching, and higher erosion rates. Additionally, increased heat stress will likely impact animal welfare and reduce milk production in dairy cows.
“These impacts won’t be distributed equally, and the level of adaptation needed will depend on location, land use, and exposure of the farm”
As well as AI enabled mapping of carbon (woody vegetation), deforestation, erosion, and invasive plants such as Nassella and Gorse/broom, Prism will work extensively with catchment groups to simulate and implement science-based land use adaptation measures. This work will commence in Arai Te Uru Awa, a 23,000 ha hill country catchment 10km southwest of Gisborne.
Prism will be headquartered in Wellington alongside and powered by Lynker Analytics who will continue to develop and deliver AI solutions to a wide range of environmental challenges.