Abstract

AgriBase™ is a national spatial farms database. It was launched in 1993 and now holds information on approximately 105,000 live (current) farms. Each distinct farm has a unique farm identifier - the Farm_ID. AgriBase holds key contact details for the farm, predominant farm type, overall size, animal numbers by stock class, planted areas for different orchard or crop types (including forestry), and the spatial coordinates of the farm usable within a geographic information system. Both government and private sector groups use AgriBase™ as a master index for all rural land holdings involved in some form of primary production. It has been used in exotic disease and pest investigations and responses, rescue helicopter missions, epidemiological research into human and animal health issues, development of environmental indicators, within-farm fertiliser planning, among others. AgriBase™ was extensively used during the February 2004 floods in the lower North Island to locate and contact affected farmers and survey the levels of damage. It is proposed that AgriBase™ has a central role to play in the development and delivery of food safety traceability and verification systems for New Zealand. Key Words: farm; database; Geographic Information System (GIS); food safety; traceability.

RL, Sanson

Proceedings of the New Zealand Society of Animal Production, Volume 65, Christchurch, 93-96, 2005