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AgResearch has bought a state of the art "sniffer" device it says will expand the frontiers of agricultural science by offering an improved way to instantly measure biological data such as methane emissions or pregnancy status from animal breath samples.
Dr Stephen Goldson, chief science strategist for the country's largest Crown Research Institute, said the Voice100 analytic device, manufactured by Christchurch company Syft Technologies, will enhance AgResearch's value to the New Zealand pastoral sector.
The home-grown technology is able to detect substances known as "volatile organic compounds", which can indicate disease in living creatures - as well as the presence of explosives.
Neither party would comment on the sum paid for the device, but units are understood to cost about $400,000, going by overseas contracts.
Goldson said the Syft device was especially attractive to AgResearch because unlike some other analysers it could instantly determine the composition of gases in the presence of water, a vital quality for measuring breath samples.
"This machine is particularly good at real-time sampling of gases with water in them and so ... if we take breath samples from animals we might be able to find out what their health status is, how much methane they may be producing - we may be able to find out if they're pregnant.
"The other thing is that this machine is really quick so we can get around quite a lot of animals in short time."
Besides its animal health and biosecurity applications - the device is already being used to monitor the contents of cargo containers at five Australian ports - Goldson said AgResearch would use it to identify gas and bacteria content in vapours crucial to other areas such as wool research.
"We're interested in the vapours that come off some fabrics ... why woollen clothes don't get as smelly when they're sweaty like synthetic clothes."
Goldson said that while AgResearch had assessed the device against other products, the institute already knew its potential as it had a long-term relationship with Syft, including a joint venture to develop a shipping inspections service.
"There is something to be said for a Crown Research Institute using New Zealand-developed tech as and where we can and I approve of that."
