12.1 Agribase

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Database Title	12.1 Agribase
Keywords Type1. Type 11.	Land use; land cover Livestock; Agriculture
Abstract	This is a national spatial farm database. A farm is a management unit owned or operated by an identified owner. The land parcels in a farm do not need to be contiguous (cf. Valuation Database). The database includes information on farm ownership and management; farm location and size, and current farming activities.
Geographical Coverage	New Zealand including Stewart Island. The Chatham Island records are not yet complete.
Dataset start date.	There was a pilot in 1988. The national programme began in 1993.
Dataset end date.	Current
Status/currency.	In progress
Update frequency.	Minimum of once every three years but would prefer once per year.
Maintenance.	The database is largely self funding. It is generally maintained through contributions of money and data from users.

Technical Evaluation
Parameters- what is measured	Predominant farm type Total farm size Number of each type of livestock Hectares of crops (by type), forestry and native bush.
Parameters- what is calculated	Density of livestock in an area or per property. Distribution of different farm types. Number of farms in a given area. Number of different farm animals in a given area. Hectares of different crop types in a given area.
Methods used to measure parameters	Each farm has a unique identifier. This allows any piece of data to be spatially linked to the farm. Livestock consultants take an Agribase form out to a farm and fill it in on the farm. In areas where rescue helicopter trusts operate, maps that show the location of the farm and various other details are sent out annually. The farm decision-maker is asked to update the information and return the map along with any donations to the rescue helicopter trusts.
Secondary sources of data	N/A
Scale of use.	A wide range of scales are used, ranging from 1:5,000,000 to 1:1000.
Number of records	94,400 farms.
GIS compatibility.	Yes.
Available formats for users.	There is a large range of mapping and data packages. Data can be in hard copy and/or digital form.
Access constraints.	The Privacy Act means that the raw data is not available. Aggregated and interpreted data is available for a fee.
Measurement Accuracy	To be completed by database manager.
Completeness of dataset	To be completed by database manager.
Positional accuracy	To be completed by database manager.
Database steward	AgriQuality New Zealand.
Database custodian	AgriQuality New Zealand.
Database custodian contact person	Robert Sanson (technical) Don Scott (access negotiations)
Database custodian Contact Address Phone Fax Email	Batchelar Agriculture Centre P.O. Box 1654 Palmerston North +64 6 356 1911 +64 6 351 7919 sansonr@agriquality.co.nz scottd@agriquality.co.nz
References
Date metadata record prepared.	October 1999
Author of metadata record.	Victoria Froude

Management Evaluation
Original purpose.	Agribase developed out of a desire for a database for exotic disease control. Its current purpose is "to store information which will be used by AgriQuality NZ and allied organisations to help [them] respond to and manage rural emergencies, diseases, pests, residues, environmental quality issues, product quality issues and other issues that may limit New Zealand's productivity or ability to trade."
Relationships with classification systems.	Agribase uses its own system to classify farms. This is based on the Statistics New Zealand classification system.
Relationships with other databases	Agribase can link with other farm specific information contained in related Agribase databases , e.g. Nulab (Animal Health Laboratory Database); NLDB (National Livestock Database); Seed-Cert (Seed Certification Database). It can also be linked to other spatially referenced data sets, e.g. DCDB, Land Cover Database, Valuation Database, Digital Terrain Model and Soils Data from the Land Resource Inventory.
Known relationships with proposed EPIP indicators.	N/A
Who uses this database?	A wide range of organisations use parts of the database. For example: one regional council uses it for pest management and resource consent purposes ACC has used it to link injuries on certain types of properties AgriResearch has used it as a layer in Topoclimate South (a project to determine optimum land use in Southland). Freezing works have used the database to monitor certain livestock diseases and their client base MAF have used it for disease investigations Animal Health Board has used it for TB control purposes Rescue helicopter trusts have used it to identify home coordinates A variety of companies have used to database for a range of purposes including product quality control for niche markets, tracking yield, locating processing facilities and tracing products.
Public awareness of the database	There is a Website which requires a password. Landowners can update data associated with their farm.
Database strengths.	There is national coverage. The database can include extra items. It is kept updated by a variety of mechanisms. There is a wide range of users.
Database limitations.	There are not the funds to keep the database updated in the way that is preferred. Generally updates are not annual. Some sectors are not complete(e.g. horticulture) Updating destroys earlier records and so there is no historical data on the database. The database does not provide sufficient differentiation for natural areas, e.g. indigenous forest, indigenous shrubland, exotic shrubland and wetlands.

What are the Current and Emerging Uses of the Database for:
Assisting with determining historic state/baseline.	At present there is no historical data as updated records replace old records. In future it is intended that updating of records will will be done in a way that retains old records.
Assisting with determining current state/baseline.	There is information on the current extent of a wide range of productive land use activities.
Assisting with modeling possible future outcomes.	It may be possible to model the major drivers affecting agriculture and how these could change under certain scenarios.
Risk assessment.	As above.
Monitoring site selection and sample design.	It would be possible for agricultural land use activities.
Aggregating and reporting data locally, regionally or nationally.	Data can be aggregated and reported at different levels. All the administrative boundaries are on the database.