April and May are going to be awesome in Southland!
We’re just a month away from the 2025 Southern AgriTech and Innovation Day on 1 May at Waimumu.
Book Now for last chance to get early bird tickets (close 1 April)
This is one event you will not want to miss with amazing keynote speakers and so much more! David Lamb is a producer and physicist and has worked in precision agriculture for 30 years. He is presently the Chief Scientist of Food Agility, an Australian Cooperative Research Centre - and will be presenting on ‘The Art of the Possible: Opportunities in Our New Data-Rich Environment’.
The hugely popular ‘Innovation Stations’ are back again with everything from smart ag-robotics to next level nutrient management for your farm, from wearables: the future of animal management, to solar opportunities for southern farms, plus turning data to dollars and pest smart: drones, AI and auto traps.
Mahgol Yousefidashliborou is a Product Designer with a focus on human-centred artificial intelligence (AI) solutions and technology innovation - and she will be presenting the fascinating topic: Future or Fantasy? Agri-ChatBots for Kiwi farmers. Focusing on an area that is already starting to emerge, turbo charging decision making on farm.
A pasture panel discussion will cover ‘grassroots to blue sky - maximising pasture and forage production’, while a farmer panel will focus on ‘farm efficiency - using tech, data, and teamwork for better results’.
Can’t wait to see you there!
Connecting with our region’s movers and shakers to celebrate five years of Thriving Southland
We had a great turn out for the Thriving Southland stakeholder breakfast, made even more special as it marks our fifth anniversary. It was a great opportunity to reflect on how far we have come, from where we started in 2020, and the progress the Catchment Groups have made and are continuing to make.
A highlight of the morning was hearing directly from one of our Catchment Groups, Edendale Aquifer Group, about their inspiring project and the difference it’s making on the ground.
Thank you to everyone who joined us to celebrate this milestone! You’ll hear more about our incredible five years throughout 2025.
Check out the latest Catchment Convos podcast
How do you manage erosion in a mudstone-heavy catchment? Tune it to the latest episode of our Catchment Convos podcast to find out.
Jacqui Chamberlain, farmer and Orauea River Catchment Group leader, shares how local farmers are tackling sediment and E. coli with:
✅ High-res data to pinpoint problem areas
✅ The Hill Country Erosion Project & poplar planting
✅ Solutions for sustainable land management
With real-world insights and hands-on experience, Jacqui’s story is a must-listen for anyone passionate about protecting land and water. Listen now at or on your favourite podcast platform. Listen to it here.
Need some $$ - funding opportunities available for your Catchment Group
The NZ Landcare Trust (NZLT) and Westpac New Zealand are supporting Catchment Groups across New Zealand to achieve their environmental, community and economic goals with the Westpac Water Care Project.
Each year, six grants of $10,000 each are available to Catchment Groups to support sustainable initiatives for rivers, lakes, streams and wetlands.
Applications are now open and will close on 30 May 2025. Read more here.
And don’t forget the Thriving Southland fund, available for wetland development and enhancement.
Edendale Aquifer Group (EAG) doing great things
The EAG has been super busy! Since forming they have attracted almost $400,000 of additional funding into the catchment from key stakeholders. Through this funding they’ve invested in water sampling equipment, an UV nitrate tester and two additional water quality monitors, and wetland work. They launched their new Facebook page in September and it’s worth following them as they’re not slowing down. You can hear more about what they’ve been up to in the Thriving Southland ‘catchment convo’ podcast.
Aquavantastic!
Crabs, touch tanks and cockle shell voting were all part of the Aquavan fun this month! Over 375 students, teachers and parents from 15 local schools joined the University of Otago Marine Studies Centre Team, supported by Environment Southland and Thriving Southland, and became scientists for 2 hours, learning about what we do on the land affects our rivers, estuaries and seas.
These interactive sessions are hands-on and fun, and the students discovered how their catchments, rivers, and coasts are all connected. The mountains to sea enviroscape model shows how different pollutants make their way into our waterways and sea. The cockle shell voting was a great way to end the sessions, with each student deciding what they would spend their cockle shell money on if they were the government or the council to look after our land and water.
It was so much fun that we threw in two community sessions. These are great, as the Aquavan is real family fun, and students return with their mum, dad, brothers, sisters, grandparents and friends! We had a massive 200 people come to the two hour Winton session, including the fantastic St Andrews Scout Group from Otautau who did a special trip to join us as their national theme is marine this term.
This year the focus of this trip was the Oreti Catchment, and the Aquavan spent two days in Winton and then two more in Invercargill.
We hope the fun doesn’t stop at the end of this trip and schools are inspired to explore different ways they can help look after the environment.
Don’t forget your local Catchment Group, community groups and schools are welcome to borrow the four Thriving Southland Education Kits – How healthy is your stream? How healthy is your estuary? Solving the animal pest puzzles & Growing native plants.
We hope you have fun discovering your catchment and coastal connections!
Mid Oreti Catchment Group
Mini Forest Movement Native Plant Nursery drop-in session
First Tuesday of every month - Tuesday 1 April, from 4pm to 6pm
AB Lime Nursery, 10 Bend Road, Winton
If you have some spare time between 4 and 6 pm on the first Tuesday of each month, round up the family and head on down to the AB Lime nursery for the Mid Oreti’s monthly drop-in nursery session. All ages welcome!
It is a really fun and relaxed session where Brad and Ainsley teach you what to do and everyone gets to take home a plant afterwards. It’s a great way to pick up some fantastic skills to grow your own native plants and do something great for a community project.
All plants grown through the monthly working bees go to the Mid Oreti Mini Forest Movement providing local grown native plants to local schools, community groups and landowners. For 2025, the group are donating 500 native plants to local projects run by schools and community groups and selling discounted native plant packs of 40 or 80 plants to local landowners. At $1.25 a plant these are AWESOME value. And all funds go back into propagating more plants.
Waikaka Catchment Group
Sediment Loss and Erosion Mitigation
Wednesday 2 April, from 12.30pm to 3.00pm (lunch provided) at 500 Kee Road
Friday 4 April, from 11am to 1pm (lunch provided) at 530 Landslip Valley Road
New Waikaka Catchment mapping tech shows exactly where sediment is moving on your farm - driven by local farmers, for local farmers.
High-resolution, farm-scale mapping—pinpointing key areas.
Discussions on practical, science-driven, cost-effective mitigation options.
A chance to see what’s working for other farmers in the catchment.
This project has been led by the Waikaka Stream Catchment Group Committee, working alongside Land and Water Science to create detailed, farm-scale maps that show exactly where sediment loss is happening—not just across the catchment, but on your farm.
The data belongs to the Catchment Group and has been developed to help local farmers make informed, practical decisions. Whether it’s sediment traps, poplar poles, or other cost-effective fixes, this field day will help you put the right solutions in the right place—so they work for your farm.
For more information contact Robert Young on 027 294 9882 or Chris Affleck on 027 371 7740.
Gore Community Planting Day
Wednesday 16 April, from 1pm, finishing with BBQ
Wards Wetland, 200 Paterson Road
Gore Catchment Group and Westpac Water Care Project (Westpac and NZLT) are holding a community planting day at Wards wetland. Everyone welcome! Bring a spade, gloves and water.
Opportunities in Agritourism Workshop
Tokanui - Wednesday 16 April, from 6.30pm to 8.30pm
Tokanui Hall, 42 Tokonui-Haldane Road, Tokonui, 9884
Lumsden - Thursday 17 April, from 6.30 pm to 8.30pm
Lumsden Senior Centre
Are you interested in learning more about the opportunities to diversify your farm by setting up or growing a profitable agritourism business? Then join us for this interactive two-hour workshop. Topics include agritourism benefits and trends, business models and opportunities in Southland. You’ll explore Southland visitor statistics and insights and case studies of successful agritourism operators. You’ll hear from guest speaker, Tom O’Brien from Welcome Rock Trails.
To register email: office@thrivingsouthland.co.nz
Southern AgriTech and Innovation Day
SAVE THE DATE - Thursday 1 May
Southern Field Days site in Waimumu, Gore
Join us at the Southern AgriTech and Innovation Day, hosted by Thriving Southland, brought to you in conjunction with the Waimumu Catchment Group. Read all about the 2024 event here
There are likely to be more events in the pipeline so make sure you check out the events section on the Thriving Southland website and the Facebook page for details.
Finally, we have some exciting news. We’ve launched our donation portal, as we continue to empower Catchment Groups across the region to tackle local challenges and make meaningful progress on productive and sustainable land use, water quality, climate change, and resilience.
With over 3,600 people attending 238 events in the last year alone, it’s clear that participation and impact are growing — but we can’t do it without support. We’re talking to businesses and communities across the region, to help us continue to support Southland Catchment Groups.
Donations, big or small, help us continue to grow grassroots change on the ground and support Catchment Groups to do incredible things.
If you’d like to support this initiative click on the link here
Have a great April,
Ngā mihi
Richard Kyte (Thriving Southland Project Lead) and the Thriving Southland Team
