Established in late 2013, the Farmer Research Advisory Group (FRAG) was formed to ensure the farm research programme has a robust and transparent process and is made accessible to all farmers.
About half of B+LNZ's current research budget is committed to projects which are in progress and finishing over the coming years. FRAG ensures that B+LNZ’s investment in research meets the needs of farmers and the sector, acting as a conduit between farmers and B+LNZ's board and research team.
The group was formed via a series of needs analysis workshops with farmer councils, with researchers also encouraged to feedback project ideas to farmers.
Who is involved?
The group has eight members, one drawn from each of the regional Farmer Councils and one member representing Maori farming, working alongside the B+LNZ research manager.
The work so far
As of March 2017, FRAG has supported 13 research topics for consideration by the B+LNZ board.