increase font size
Virginia Serra, DairyNZ
Selwyn and Hinds dairy farmers are taking steps to reduce farm nitrogen loss, according to a recent DairyNZ survey.
“The survey shows Selwyn and Hinds farmers are working hard to reduce their footprint,” says DairyNZ solutions and development lead advisor, Virginia Serra.
“Taking steps now to reduce nitrogen losses will help improve water quality over time. We know it isn’t easy, but farmers are on the journey and support is available from DairyNZ, dairy companies and rural professionals.”
Survey participants reported:
81% percent of farmers have improved irrigation systems or management.
More than 50% have changed fertiliser use and improved effluent management.
Some farmers have changed stocking rate, are using the grazing herb plantain which reduces nitrogen loss, or have made other changes to benefit the environment.
DairyNZ has been working with Selwyn and Hinds farmers for three years in a project to help farmers reduce nitrogen loss, while optimising profit and resilience.
The project, Meeting a Sustainable Future, is trialling options with 40 partner farms and shares the knowledge with local farmers through field days and events. The work is designed to help farmers meet Environment Canterbury and government rules, says Serra.
Under Environment Canterbury rules, Selwyn dairy farmers must reduce nitrogen losses by 30% by 2022, compared to their baseline figure from 2009- 2013. A farm’s baseline is its average annual nitrogen loss over those four years.
In Hinds, farmers have to reduce nitrogen losses by 15% by 2025, 25 percent by 2030 and 36% by 2035.
In July, a new nationwide nitrogen cap took effect, capping synthetic nitrogen fertiliser applied to pasture at 190kg N/ha/ year. Farmers throughout the country are working hard to achieve this.
Project Details
DairyNZ says its plantain programme continues to deliver promising results, with new data confirming that modest levels of plantain in pastures reduce nitrogen leaching, offering farmers a practical, science-backed tool to meet environmental goals.
As an independent review of the National Pest Management Plan for TB finds the goal of complete eradication by 2055 is still valide, feedback is being sought on how to finish the job.
DairyNZ has pulled together tactics that will help farmers improve on-farm efficiency and have positive benefits for the environment. These tactics are based on research, data, and lessons from leading farmers.
The design and construction of an effective dairy effluent system is a complex process.
After serving three as a DairyNZ director, Waikato farmer Chris Lewis is ready for another term.
NZPork has appointed Auckland-based Paul Bucknell as its new chair.
The Government claims to have delivered on its election promise to protect productive farmland from emissions trading scheme (ETS) but red meat farmers aren’t happy.
Foot and Mouth Disease outbreaks could have a detrimental impact on any country's rural sector, as seen in the United Kingdom's 2000 outbreak that saw the compulsory slaughter of over six million animals.
The Ministry for the Environment is joining as a national award sponsor in the Ballance Farm Environment Awards (BFEA from next year).
Kiwis are wasting less of their food than they were two years ago, and this has been enough to push New Zealand’s total household food waste bill lower, the 2025 Rabobank KiwiHarvest Food Waste survey has found.
OPINION: Sir Lockwood Smith has clearly and succinctly defined what academic freedom is all about, the boundaries around it and the responsibility that goes with this privilege.
OPINION: Should cows in NZ be microchipped?
OPINION: Legislation being drafted to bring back the controversial trade of live animal exports by sea is getting stuck in the…
