AgResearch

And that's involved in environmental traits where we're using pat chambers to measure methane and various gas from textile lands and just feeding into that.

I suppose that global study in general, the team at AgResearch in New Zealand are a big lead in that as well.

But yeah, position ourselves.

We all say that we're always open for collaborative research projects within the UK or globally.

Looking back, what has changed the most in your understanding of soil and plant nutrition?

I think you could say the, um, AgResearch or the Agricultural Research division, its predecessor, we worked in the silo, if you like, of, um, you know, mindset of everything was about getting the right levels of nutrients in the soil so that farmers could obtain, uh, what was referred to as optimum production with some thought to cost instead of just maximum growth, and, uh, loosely referred to as enough production to give you about 97% or 98% of maximum production.

And that's, and that information was all-- New Zealand information was put into what was called CFAS, or the Computerized Fertilizer Advisory Scheme, in the 19, early 1980s.

But the, you know, that-- it was just basically assumed, I think, by most, by scientists working in agriculture, was that, um, if you followed the recommendations, fertilizer recommendations for that sort of production level, you know, that nothing bad was gonna happen with water quality.

[upbeat music] Kate Wilson has provided intellectual property advice to some of New Zealand's iconic innovative companies, including Gallagher, Zespri, and AgResearch.

And in this episode, she shares her insights with us, showing how New Zealand companies can use IP to protect their competitive advantage and position themselves to dominate global markets.

We explore some interesting New Zealand stories, including one of her clients who followed her advice and was acquired for more than $100 million.

To give people a bit of an idea of the businesses you've worked with, who are some of your clients that you've had in the area of IP?

Um, my first big one was Gallagher's, um, good old Waikato company, and that was excellent because it, um, made me work out how to manage a large IP portfolio and develop the system there.

But I've also managed portfolios for, um, Zespri and AgResearch and Waikato University.

These are the New Zealand ones.

Um, Bomac, which is an animal health company.