Effluent, nutrients in fact sheet

The Farmfacts, available online at dairynz.co.nz/farmfacts, have been created by pulling together material from a range of recently-released guidelines and resources, with input from some of New Zealand's top scientists and researchers.

DairyNZ team leader for sustainability Dr Theresa Wilson says the dairy industry has been working together to reduce their environmental footprint and the range of information in the Farmfacts reflects this.

"The Farmfacts have been updated to stay abreast of advances in technology and include information that is consistent with the many industry-agreed guidelines and resources," says Wilson.

"Some of the material created over the last few years includes the dairy effluent storage calculator; the effluent system design standards and code of practice; regionalised compliance checklists; and nutrient management indicators.

"Even smartphone apps get a mention, as this is a piece of technology that will have an increasing influence on the way we manage our farms."

More than 80 new fact sheets on environmental management have been produced. Topics covered include nutrient, effluent and riparian management; water quality and use; and infrastructure design. Information is easily searchable, with each Farmfact covering a specific topic.

Some of the Farmfacts were created with the assistance of dairy farmers.

"The first step in creating the new Farmfacts was to invite farmer input," says Wilson.

"That way we were better able to anticipate the kind of knowledge farmers wanted, no matter what their situation.

"There are many steps to running an efficient effluent system and these fact sheets cover off all aspects of effluent management, from information on irrigator maintenance to tips on building a new effluent system."

For access to Farmfacts visit www.dairynz.co.nz/farmfacts.