Co-op spearheads effluent solution technology rollout
An innovative dairy effluent management system is being designed to help farmers improve on-farm effluent practices and reduce environmental impact.
For South Canterbury dairy farmers Neil and Margaret Campbell, installing a ClearTech effluent treatment system has yielded a wide range of positive impacts on their 240ha farm.
Thorneycroft, an 800-cow property near Geraldine, borders the water collection zone for the township. It was while working with Ravensdown Environmental to renew his farm consents that Neil says the idea of installing a ClearTech unit came about.
“The science was a plus with the information we were putting together with our consents to farm, which is why we pursued the ClearTech system for that particular farm,” he says.
Developed in conjunction with Lincoln University, Ravensdown’s ClearTech system uses a coagulant to bind colloidal particles together to settle them out from the water. This clarifying process reduces the environmental and safety risks linked with farm dairy effluent (FDE). It kills 99% of E. coli bacteria in the clarified water and reduces the risk of phosphorus leaching in the FDE applied to pasture.
Stripping out the E. coli and other bacteria in FDE means freshwater use is reduced, while effluent storage capability is increased. The clarified water is used to wash down the dairy yard and irrigated back onto paddocks.
By reducing the amount of FDE by around two-thirds, ClearTech offers Neil a proactive solution to the environmental issue of spreading effluent to pasture near the township.
He’s also noted better water conservation and increased time efficiencies for staff on-farm, particularly with their travelling irrigator system for effluent spreading.
“The less material we have to spread with that, the less labour is required,” he notes.
Neil’s seen firsthand how much easier it has made things for the staff on Thorneycroft, and his advice for anyone thinking about ClearTech is to ‘go for it’.
“There are so many positives with it and the science is all there behind it.”
An Auckland man who illegally killed and sold pigs and a chicken has been fined $8,000.
Ahead of the World Butchers' Challenge, the captains of 14 nations’ teams squared off in Paris over the weekend.
Rural Women New Zealand (RWNZ) says it welcomes recently announced consultation on Pharmac’s funding of ostradiol patches used by women going through perimenopause and menopause.
Fonterra has named Elizabeth (Liz) Coutts the chair of Mainland Group, the proposed divestment entity of the co-operative’s consumer business.
Farmer-owned co-operative Ravensdown is winding down the operations of its agritech subsidiary C-Dax following a long decline in sales.
The recent East Coast Farming Expo, held over two days at Wairoa, offered an insight into the current state of agriculture on the east of the North Island, at a time when the locals are remembering the second anniversary of Cyclone Gabrielle.