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08 April 2026 Water, Soil and Biodiversity: Building Farming Systems that Maintain Ecosystem Services

Description & Topics

SeriesInnovation SeriesEvent

This year’s Innovation Series explores how innovation and sustainability are shaping the future of farming. For our first Innovation Series event in 2026, we turn our focus to water soil and biodiversity: how can New Zealand farmers continue to produce food and fibre while protecting the natural systems their businesses depend on?

With growing pressure from freshwater regulations, soil degradation, and biodiversity loss, the challenge lies in finding a balance between productivity and long-term resilience. Farms that support ecosystem services — such as clean water, fertile soils, and thriving habitats — are better equipped to withstand environmental and economic shocks. But achieving this balance requires fresh thinking, innovation, and collaboration across disciplines.

Join us as leading researchers and practitioners share practical strategies for integrating water, soil, and biodiversity management into modern farming systems. Together, we’ll explore innovative tools, land-use practices, and business models that reduce environmental impact while safeguarding productivity — offering a glimpse into what truly sustainable, future-ready farming looks like.

This special Innovation Series event will bring together experts from across research, industry, and farming communities for an insightful and solutions-focused discussion on how we can align profitable food production with the health of our natural environment.

Wednesday 8 April
9.00am - 1.30pm
S1, Stewart Building, Lincoln University

Programme:

9.00am: Welcome

9.15am: Session 1: Foundations of Resilient Farm Ecosystems
Understanding water, soil, and biodiversity as productive assets

9.15am Keynote Speaker 1- Dr. Alistair Black (Lincoln University)
Soil health, pasture resilience, and water efficiency under climate pressure
Alistair can explain how soil structure, pasture species, and water-use efficiency influence productivity and resilience, drawing on dryland and irrigated systems research.

9.35am Keynote Speaker 2 - Dr. Rick Stoffels (New Zealand Institute for Earth Science)
Nutrients, waterways, and farm-scale mitigation
Rick will summarise why nutrients are a problem for waterway health, progress we are making towards sustainable farming, and the outstanding challenges ahead.

9.55am Keynote Speaker 3 - Matt Iremonger (Willesden Farms)
On-farm biodiversity as a production asset
Matt can show how shelterbelts, wetlands, and native plantings enhance ecosystem services, pest control, and farm resilience.

10.15am Q&A

10.20am: Break

10.35am: Session 2: Innovation in Integrated Land Management
Tools, technologies, and practices for sustainable production

10.35am Keynote Speaker 1 - Dr Catriona MacLeod (Bioeconomy Science Institute)
Precision nutrient and environmental management
Catriona can discuss modelling tools, farm systems analysis, and how data is helping farmers reduce losses and optimise inputs.

10.55am Keynote Speaker 2 - Justin Kitto, (Dairy NZ)
Practical tools for water and soil stewardship in dairy systems
Justin will share how DairyNZ is supporting farmers to improve water quality and soil health through practical tools, on-farm monitoring, and system design. He will highlight proven approaches to nutrient management and integrating biodiversity into productive dairy systems.

11.15am Keynote Speaker 3 - Dr Richard Morris (Lincoln University)
Using the LU Integral Health Farming approach to co-design farms for health with Iwi
Richard will share practical insights into integrating wetlands, shelterbelts, and native plantings within a productive dairy system. He will highlight how biodiversity can improve water outcomes, strengthen farm resilience, and support profitable, sustainable production.

11.35am Q&A

11.40am: Break

11.50am: Session 3: Future-Proofing Profitable Farming Systems
Aligning environmental performance with business success

11.50am Keynote Speaker 1 - Professor Alan Renwick (Lincoln University)
Balancing science, policy, and farm economics
Alan can speak to trade-offs, regulatory realities, and how farmers can remain competitive while improving environmental outcomes.

12.10pm Keynote Speaker 2 - Sam Friggens (ASB)
How environmental performance affects finance and risk
Sam will share a banking perspective on ESG, lending criteria, climate risk, and why natural capital matters to investors.

12.30pm Keynote Speaker 3 - TBC
Valuing ecosystem services and incentives for change
TBC can explain how biodiversity, water quality, and soil carbon may be rewarded through markets and policy mechanisms.

12.50pm Q&A

12.55pm: Summary

1.05pm: Lunch and networking

1.30pm: Event finishes

Prof. Alison Bailey

Lincoln University

As Professor of Farm Management at Lincoln University I have a role in developing the discipline through my own and others research. My research is primarily as a social scientist working within multi-disciplinary teams examining the relationship between agriculture, the environment and socio-economic criteria. The importance of this work cannot be understated. The world depends upon a productive agricultural industry that minimises the impact on the wider environment, is feasible and viable to implement, whilst also being acceptable to an increasingly engaged global population. The work has been undertaken across the European Union, United Kingdom, Africa and most recently New Zealand for both Government, commercial and charitable organisations. My work has led to improvements in how government legislation is implemented, reducing the burden for both government and the farming industry; and has led to new initiatives to simplify or change on-farm practice whilst managing risk, maintaining food safety and quality, and/or reducing the impact on the environment.

Dr. Alistair Black

Lincoln University

I teach pasture and crop agronomy in courses ranging from diploma to PhD. I research pastures and crops in the Dryland Pastures Research Programme. We investigate how legume-based pastures can enhance water and nitrogen use efficiency to combat climate change and variability in dryland regions. We examine how environment and management factors impact the growth and development of agricultural plants to develop agronomic solutions for drought-prone farms. I lead the Regenerative Agriculture Dryland Experiment (RADE): a new long-term, farmlet-scale experiment on campus that examines the total-farm impact – soil, plant, animal and financial – of regenerative agriculture. The RADE is our ‘living laboratory’ for teaching and learning of plant science and other disciplines on campus. My research also included strategies for profitable beef production, plant species diversity in grasslands, rhizobia in legumes and endophyte diversity in ryegrass. My recent international research included high altitude grasslands in collaboration with Qinghai University, China, and plant diversity modelling with Trinity College Dublin, Ireland.

Dr. Rick Stoffels

Earth Sciences New Zealand

Kirsty Brennan is with Lyttelton Port Company, where she leads initiatives to integrate biosecurity into port operations. Her work focuses on managing risks associated with high trade volumes and fostering innovation to strengthen New Zealand’s frontline biosecurity.

Dr. Catriona MacLeod

Bioeconomy Science Institute

Catriona is an interdisciplinary researcher focused on encouraging and empowering people to care for nature. Working at the interface of social and ecological systems, she takes an applied, systems-level approach to addressing complex socio-ecological challenges.
Her research explores how individual values, social networks, institutions and technology shape environmental decision-making. She works closely with diverse communities across Aotearoa New Zealand to co-design resources that build environmental awareness, skills and confidence, enabling informed action. This includes designing and implementing online citizen science campaigns, fostering communities of practice, and improving how scientific knowledge informs policy and management.
Catriona also brings strong ecological expertise, with interests spanning land use and agricultural intensification, environmental monitoring and management across production, conservation and urban landscapes, and behavioural ecology and evolution. Through advanced quantitative analysis and tailored data visualisation, she distils complex environmental data into clear, practical insights that support wiser environmental decision-making.

Dr. Justin Kitto

DairyNZ

Justin is an environmental specialist at DairyNZ, working at the intersection of farm performance and environmental stewardship. With a Master’s in Environmental Science (Freshwater Ecology), he brings together the latest environmental research, practical farm systems knowledge, and an understanding of market and policy expectations to help farmers integrate sustainable practices within profitable cows-and-grass systems.
Justin works closely with catchment groups, DairyNZ’s policy team, and farmers on the ground to turn environmental ambition into practical action. He has played a key role in shaping more effective, evidence-based policies by drawing on first-hand experience—whether developing on-farm wetlands, improving wintering practices, or providing expert input in regulatory and Environment Court processes. Passionate about collaborative research and farmer-led innovation, Justin is driven by supporting farmers who want to do things differently and make meaningful environmental gains.

Prof. Alan Renwick

Lincoln University

My work focuses on agricultural and trade policy analysis, innovation in agrifood systems and analysis of agrifood value chains, all areas of fundamental importance to the functioning of the agrifood sector. Much of my career has involved applying economic analysis to assess the efficiency, effectiveness and equity of the EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), but more recently I have been focusing on the economics of existing and novel land-uses in New Zealand and technology adoption more generally. I am interested in quantifying the impact of innovation on the performance of either the agrifood system as a whole or of particular sectors within the industry. Linked to this is my research on the operation of value chains in developed and developing countries and the links with food security, which also provides useful information for policy makers. Many of my projects involve collaboration with researchers from other areas including agriculture, ecology, computer science and social science.

Sam Friggens

ASB

Sam Friggens is General Manager Climate Transition at ASB Bank, where he leads the development of climate transition products and supports corporate, business and rural customers on their decarbonisation journeys. Appointed to this newly established role in October 2022, Sam works closely with ASB’s sustainability and sustainable finance teams to strengthen the bank’s climate and clean technology capability and help accelerate a low-emissions future.
Originally from the UK, Sam joined ASB from global consultancy Mott MacDonald, where he was Technical Director of Energy and Climate. A tech-minded leader, he brings broad international experience across clean technology, renewable energy, government advisory, infrastructure climate resilience, transition pathways, and land use. Sam holds a Master of Science in Environmental Change and Management from University of Oxford and has authored papers on net zero pathways, renewable procurement, and low-carbon heat roadmaps.