Virtual Reality helps farmers plant the right trees in the right place

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2023-06-03 04:00

New Zealand

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Many livestock farmers want to plant trees on their farms to offset carbon emissions, but don't know which species to plant, or where to put them. As carbon regulations change, some rural communities are anxious about large scale conversion from farmland to forestry. Now researchers have combined VR technology with scientific data, and created a tool that lets farmers visualise different planting designs, and create virtual future farm scenarios. The tool will enable the farmers to make decisions that take into account multiple goals such as economic returns, business and environmental ambitions, and farm aesthetics.