Callaghan says rejection of R&D grant from CEO's brother on merit, not conflict

Callaghan Innovation says its rejection of a funding application from a company involving the chief executive's brother was declined by the board based on its merits rather than any conflict of interest.

Pastoral Robotics was started in 2013 by Bert Quin and Geoff Bates of Pastoral Robotics to develop a product aimed at resolving nitrate leaching and greenhouse gas emissions from cow urine patches.

Mr Bates said last week that their application for a research and development project grant was turned down because of conflicts of interest and they're now seeking up to $3 million in investment funding to continue developing their product.

Mr Quin is the brother of Callaghan CEO Mary Quin and Mr Bates was a fulltime Callaghan employee at the time of the application which was declined in 2014.

Their prototype, Spikey, is towed over the ground and its metal spikes detect changes in the electrical properties of the soil caused by the presence of urine. It then only sprays recent urine patches, meaning typically only 5 percent of the pasture has to be sprayed which is a huge saving in chemicals. It also promotes more grass growth which means additional revenue for the farmer.

Because of the two flagged potential conflicts of interest, the application went to the Callaghan board for approval and was declined because it didn't meet requirements. "It was a merit-based decision," the government-funded agency said.

The application was initially processed by Callaghan's Christchurch team to maintain impartiality as Mr Bates worked in the Auckland office.

Callaghan said it took "great care" to ensure the application was considered objectively as all applicants should expect.

Mr Bates also said the start-up had paid for technical assistance from Callaghan scientists that was critical in Spikey's development.

Funding last year from the NZ Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Research Centre allowed the company to test Spikey on a range of farms and soils conditions across the country.

The AGGRC is also funding research headed by Landcare Research into how New Zealand could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by manipulating denitrification in pasture soils, using Pastoral Research's Orun spray and others.

In August, Pastoral Robotics will begin on-farm trials with Spikey on the best sprays and nozzles to treat cow urine patches and are hopeful of then putting it on the market next year.

Pastoral Robotics was one of six start-ups that took part in an Innovation Accelerator, a partnership between Callaghan and Fieldays, at last week's annual agricultural event. The selected business were all at various stages of pre-commercialisation or the early stages of selling their products.

(BusinessDesk gets some assistance from Callaghan to cover commercialisation of innovation).

(BusinessDesk)