Unsung heroes under the soil
Much of the scientific work being carried out at the Massey University led regenerative agriculture project, Whenua Haumanu, is below the ground.
It will also seek to reduce the workload on staff and to meet new environmental standards being set by regional councils, especially in sensitive catchments.
The new project was launched last week, with Massey vice-chancellor Steve Maharey saying he hopes what will be done on No 1 Dairy Farm will help people deal with the nationwide debate on dairying.
This includes how the issues of productivity, profitability and sustainability are balanced in way that allow dairying farming to continue into the 21st century, with the whole community’s backing.
The major changes being made to No 1 dairy include reducing the size of the milking platform by nearly 40%, reducing cow numbers from 360 to 240 and changing to once-a-day (OAD) milking. Some of the land taken from the original milking platform will be planted in trees, some used as feed for cows and the rest for riparian plantings. Other land will be used for crops such as Lucerne for feeding cows.
The farm is just across the road from the main Massey campus and backs onto the Manawatu River, noted for claims that it is being polluted by dairy farms upstream and local council sewage systems in its lower reaches.
Assistant vice-chancellor Stuart Morriss – who has overall responsibility for the project – says the interrelationship between agriculture and the environment has been the focus of huge attention over the years.
“In recent years the Horizons Regional Council One Plan has heightened that awareness for many people in the region about the challenges of farming in a sustainable manner financially, environmentally and socially. The sort of environment we have on the No 1 dairy farm is similar to the ones faced by many farmers in the priority catchment zones.
“Also No 1 dairy’s proximity to a large urban area and a waterway provides opportunities to research a number of issues.”
Morriss says the project is as much about people as it is about technical farming issues.
In respect of people, the move to OAD is to see if people can work just 40 hours a week. It is recognised that many are turned off the dairy industry because of the long work hours. The university plans to talk to farmers, policy makers, schools and the public.
But in its quest to find new systems, Massey University will look to use a wide range of technologies to monitor everything on the farm. This will include individual stock performance, pasture performance, weather, water, N leaching and animal health and welfare. Just about every department in the university is likely to have a role in the farm. It will also work with partners such as DairyNZ, Fonterra, Federated Farmers and local councils, all of whom had representatives at the launch.
No 1 dairy farm will not be a ‘demonstration farm’, but will remain a research farm for teaching purposes, but Massey is keen to get ideas and feedback flowing from interested parties to ensure the research done is relevant and practical and can be adopted by farmers and assist with policy setting.
