Leading Ag Technology Researcher Appointed ISPA President

Ian Yule, ISPA

Massey University Professor Ian Yule has been appointed president of the International Society of Precision Agriculture (2018-2020).

Massey University’s Professor Ian Yule, one of the world’s leading agri-tech researchers, has been voted president of the International Society of Precision Agriculture for 2018-2020, according to a press release on Scoop.co.nz.

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Professor Yule, a Precision Agriculture Association of New Zealand (PAANZ) committee member, will be a key speaker at the seventh Asian-Australasian conference on precision agriculture in Hamilton later next year. It will be the first time the conference has been held outside Asia.

Much of his research is centered around sensors and imaging to help expand New Zealand’s export agriculture and food production. He is looking to develop pasture measurement tools, aerial topdressing, irrigation, precision dairying, horticulture, viticulture and cropping.

Yule has a PhD in agricultural engineering and has a passion for remote and hyperspectral sensing, as well as finding practical, usable solutions to problems within the agriculture space.

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His agriculture technology studies include a $10 million portfolio of research activity. Yule’s global-first research is at the forefront of developing practical applications for remote sensing and imaging that has worked towards New Zealand’s largest jointly funded remote sensing project. The research is expected to result in $120 million a year in export earnings by 2030 and net economic benefits of $734 million between 2020 and 2050.

“Here at Massey we have a state-of-the-art aerial imaging tool which was first developed for military reconnaissance and space exploration that can enable New Zealand to capture unprecedented levels of data about the nutrient content of large sections of land that may have been previously inaccessible,” Yule said. “This is a game changer. It’s like turning the whole of New Zealand into a living lab, where you can observe exactly what is going on and describe it in greater detail than ever before.

“It will make New Zealand agriculture more efficient, profitable and environmentally friendly. It is a really cost-effective way to tell if there are weeds or diseases present.”

Read the full story on Scoop.co.nz.

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