Agricultural Consulting Services
Who we are
The company has gained a reputation for being innovative and for providing solutions to meet the needs of a very dynamic agricultural industry.
Gerard Rushton, Managing Director of Agricultural Consulting Services has over the past decade established himself as one of the leading specialist on DDT analysis, his services have been the foundation for over 80% of dairy farm conversions in the Mid Canterbury area and throughout the South Island. Gerard and his team have a strong emphasis on technology and are continually embracing and developing new technologies to provide efficient management systems for their clients.
Meet the team
GPS Farm Mapping
An accurate map is the basis for every decision made on your farm. ACS provide accurate maps using the latest GPS and drone technology to produce a customised map meeting individual customers needs.
- Accurate maps and map pads
- Whiteboards and planners
- Hazard maps
- Farm environment plan maps
- Compliance mapping of wetlands and streams
- Compatible with farm software packages
- Farm design and setout
Irrigation & Farm Design
ACS has become the prominent company for Irrigation Development and Design throughout the Greater Canterbury region and the South Island.
Working together with all Irrigation companies or independently, the company has developed extensive expertise and has been involved with a multitude of Irrigation developments with individual farmers, corporate entities and community schemes.
Soil, Plant and DDT Testing
ACS is a member of the New Zealand institute of Agricultural Science (NZAIS) and works within the New Zealand Fertilzer Manufactures Research Association ( NZFMRA ) to provide farmers with independent soil testing and fertilzer recommendations. ACS also offers a full range of plant tissue testing analysis.
ACS are specialists in DDT Residue Testing, our consultants are Fonterra Approved Samplers for Dairy Conversions and have been involved in the testing of the majority of dairy farms in the greater Canterbury area since the company was formed.
Feed Assessment & Analysis
Using ACS’s years of local knowledge and experience, we provide an independent feed assessment using a fully accredited laboratory to give accurate measurements that are essential to ensure winter feed targets and feed budgets are met. ACS gives both the buyer and seller the assurance of a neutral party to access crops.
- Winter feed assessments, dry matter, yield, and ME testing
- GPS paddock measuring, accurate area measurements for DM/Ha
- Silage testing ( DM, ME, and digestibility )
- Accredited laboratory testing
- Fodder beet plant counts utilising drone technology
- Essential for feed budgeting
Soil Moisture Monitoring
ACS is a certified supplier and dealer for the “CROPX” soil monitoring system. “CropX “ is an easy to use soil monitoring system which is easy to install and has the unique point of difference of being able to be reused in different locations in different seasons. We can provide a full monitoring service or can supply and install, enabling the clients to mange their own monitoring via the CropX software package.
- Easy to install
- Soil moisture, temperature and EC
- Software which is easy to use
- Robust, accurate and low cost
- View soil data in clear graphs
Water Testing and Treatment Solutions
ACS delivers independent sampling of water and provides analysis from a internationally accredited laboratory for domestic potable water to meet world health standards and council compliance requirements.
ACS also provide treatment solutions to ensure water meets these requirements.
ACS also provides effluent water analysis to ensure farmers are meeting their environmental management targets.
Irrigator Performance Evaluation
ACS delivers independent sampling of water and provides analysis from a internationally accredited laboratory for domestic potable water to meet world health standards and council compliance requirements.
ACS also provide treatment solutions to ensure water meets these requirements.
ACS also provides effluent water analysis to ensure farmers are meeting their environmental management targets.
Drone Services
ACS provides a variety of drone services to farmers and contractors using a top-of-the-line Matrice 300 RTK drone and high powered software packages from around the world, to provide imagery and data for a wide spectrum of applications from plant health to asset tracking
- Accurate and detailed slope maps for grazing compliance
- Identify planting areas and waterway buffer zones for FEP
- Plant counts and plant health using NVDI and NDRE cameras
- Asset/project monitoring including forestry plantations
- Quantity surveying of areas such as ponds or silage pits
- Aerial imagery for high accuracy farm mapping
Other Services Provided
For the farmers in Southland and Otago, we have some good news - we are providing our mapping services down south. We now have access to files of farms previously mapped by Keith McKenzie - Agricultural Consulting Services Southland, so for clients who have had work done by Keith in the past we will be able to update their existing data.
We also travel south to do new mapping, markout or design work – wherever possible we will attempt to get several jobs in one trip to spread out the travel costs for our customers
Contact Us for more information.
