Get on that technology bus

Dr David McCall says to some extent this is a generational thing: baby boomers were not brought up on computers, tablets and smartphones, but the new generation of farmers will take to using information more than older dairy farmers.

Science has progressed much in the last five years, developing new ways to help dairy farmers manage environmental issues, he says. Five years ago there was a question mark over how much science could do for farmers, but many things are now in the pipeline.

“We are now looking at the nutrient problem and finding more ways to manage this including breeding a cow that produces less N, and feeding cows pasture species that dilute their urine -- exciting possibilities.

“Science takes a while to come through and it can be a bit invisible. But we are starting to feel confident about some things that are coming even though it may take another three to five years before we hit the ground running.

The key is to break down problems and deal with them step by step and just keep plugging away.”

Science now has a significant role in changing some of the perceptions about agriculture, McCall says. A lot of dairy industry money, matched by government, has gone into greenhouse gas research and exciting scientific finds are not far from being revealed; when that happens their impact on public perceptions will start to turn things around.

“On the urban/rural issues, we need to remember we are all Kiwis with many things in common. I wonder [if rural people] get a bit too sensitive.... Many urban people back dairy.”

McCall finds it interesting to look at the Irish public perception of farming there. NZ and Ireland have much in common in their agriculture, but Irish farmers have the luxury of public backing. But he warns this may be short lived as their dairy industry expands with the lifting of EU controls on the amount of milk farmers can produce.

“They are running into the same problems we are having to deal with here.”