Hawke's Bay farmer Bruce Wills says new traps on his farm are so effective towards pest management it is a potential 'game changer' for farmers.
Hawke's Bay farmer Bruce Wills is waxing lyrically down the phone in his distinct genial tone.
"It probably took me all of 30 seconds to clear the trap and reset it. I know in the past it would have meant a ride on the bike to get there, and possibly even find nothing, that would be a waste of probably an hour."
The former Federated Farmers President is still very much hands-on, farming and promoting environmental initiatives in his province.
His latest interest is a collaborative predator control project -- capetocity.co.nz -- involving numerous stakeholders including Hawke's Bay Regional Council, Department of Conservation, Landcare Research and the Aotearoa Foundation.
He told the National Farming Review the $6 million funded initiative was gathering momentum and on track to be a massive success not only for farmers, but the Hawke's Bay community.
"The buy-in from the community has been incredible. I've had people not from a farming background contacting me wanting to know more and what they can do to help," he said.
It's been described as a 'game changer' for farmers in their long suffering struggle with pest management.
Mr Wills can testify to those struggles. He chose wisely to support a local possum control programme and the results have been 'extraordinary', with possums a rare sight on his farm.
"I remember we used to endure plagues of them on a regular basis and you might see half a dozen in just an hour."
Those incidents are now a distant memory and his farm's native biodiversity has returned with plant life flourishing and bird numbers the most he has witnessed in his lifetime.
Still, nature does have a peculiar way of recovering its authority and instigating more unforeseen challenges.
A downside from reinvigorating indigenous plants and protecting native birds has been the unwelcome influx of feral cats, stoats and rats to name a few.
That prompted Mr Wills to revisit his on-farm pest management with diseases such as toxoplasmosis -- synonymous with feral cats -- threatening wildlife and increasing premature births in lambs.
He was aware of the Cape Sanctuary project run by private investors and how successful that had been in controlling pests, and it was out of this the Cape to City was born.
So why is the Cape Sanctuary pest control programme particularly potent, compared with others? Mr Wills said it was down to a more science-based approach combining wireless technology and good old fashioned kiwi guile.
Traps are monitored from a smart phone, laptop or computer with GPS positioning, sending signals from a solar powered control site box (hub).
The lure -- a synthetic, chemical compound -- is stored in a plastic permeable container and has greater longevity than a traditional baiter enticer such as peanut butter and chocolate.
"This scent never dissipates and unlike others it lasts at least a year, so you don't have to check or change on a regular basis," Mr Wills said
Mr Wills has 20 traps operating based on where the most pest activity is generally found.
From the comfort of his armchair, he can view the status of traps on his cellphone via an app.
The app displays a topographical view of his Trelinnoe farm with the trap locations lit up green or red with the latter confirmation that a trap is holding a pest.
Should the trap be disturbed or not be functioning a signal is relayed back to his cellphone via the hub.
"The robustness of the traps is an added bonus. It's cattle tested and resistant in adverse weather and can be stationed on deep gorges, gullies or basically in any inhospitable locations which means it is ideal for hill country farmers too," he said.
Even where the wireless signal is compromised by steep or rugged terrain the system is designed to bounce the signal from trap to trap until it reaches a communicative point where it can transmit back to the hub.
"The beauty is the data is easily accessible and retrievable. I noticed my neighbour who's been off farm has some traps which need attention," he laughed.
Mr Wills said the initiative and subsequent technology had the potential to revolutionise pest management in New Zealand and overseas.
"The reality is this technology could stimulate global interest. Hawke's Bay Regional Council is really proactive working with others to refine the traps. I can see it rolled out nationwide with tens of thousands of traps made.
"We are still in the process of establishing proof of concept. But the potential is exciting and we may even see it being transferable to other issues like farm security," he said.
Once a market was established its likely production costs would decrease significantly with cheaper costs to operate too. Keeping the costs within an affordable range for farmers was priority.
At present they were working on a scale of less than $3 a hectare to roll out on farm. This was comparative with the current TB free programme.
For Mr Wills, invasive predator control is a critical aspect towards maintaining one of our undoubted assets -- our indigenous biodiversity.
"It's not just about fencing off rivers, riparian planting and land regeneration. The QE II covenants and Significant National Landscapes initiatives are obviously part of the wider biodiversity plan.
"But it won't make a difference if we don't focus attention on extra resources and innovation into pest management," he said.