When Kerslake heard the call for projects from the Rural Innovation Lab she applied without a clear picture of what an end product could look like.
“We were a little unsure about what farmers wanted to know,” she said.
“We went to the Rural Innovation Lab and asked for the opportunity to work alongside farmers to understand further to create a potential solution.”
The team wants to create something to help farmers quantify greenhouse gases.
They envision a potential calculator but are initially spending time researching farmers’ needs and priorities.
“Once we have a clear understanding of what outputs they want we can assess what tools are out there already that meet their requirements and where the potential gaps are.
“This could mean we end up working with other providers and-or create something from scratch.”
They were successful in their pitch and secured one of the four support packages from the Rural Innovation Lab.
The Lab is a connector and facilitator for projects.
Farmers are heavily involved in the project to ask questions and bounce ideas off.
They had their first farmer bootcamp in Pahiatua last month, which focused on creating value from reducing on-farm emissions.
The Lab provided some valuable speakers and led a workshop with the team.
Three priority areas were uncovered.
Firstly, that farmers want to understand their carbon footprint in context, from both a national and international perspective.
Then they need to get a handle on possible mitigations and the economic impacts.
And they want the right information to be able to tell a story about their product in the way they want to tell it.
“Now that we understand the outputs farmers want the next step is to pull together our data scientists and the farmers to focus on the data needed to communicate these outcomes.”
They aim to have a blueprint design and know where they want to go next by November and will seek further funding to develop the ideas further.
The resources and guidance from the Lab are proving valuable to get the project going. Kerslake also appreciates having the other innovation projects to connect with.
She promotes getting ideas out and encourages other innovators to put their ideas forward.
“Talk to your end users and work with them about what they need and how to develop that.
“The initial part takes time but is vital to get right.
“Be prepared to have your ideas challenged, even ripped down, but keep questioning as it will build better and targeted ideas.”
