increase font size
Mark Laurence, DairyNZ
A major, three-year research project is underway in Taranaki to see what can be done to practically reduce the environmental footprint of dairy farmers and, above all, ensure that farms remain profitable. Reporter Peter Burke looks at the initiative and how it's progressing.
The project is led by Dairy Trust Taranaki in conjunction with Mark Laurence - DairyNZ's regional leader in the province.
He heard about the trust working on a project called 'Future Farming', which was designed to see what farming might look like in the future with greenhouse gas and nitrate restrictions, as well as new animal welfare requirements, and still be profitable.
"At the same time, DairyNZ had come up with a programme called Step Change. In conversation with the trust, I said one of the things I'd love to do is get some farmers and work with them, at an in-depth level and see what some of the practical things are they can do to make changes?" Laurence told Dairy News.
"We have a whole lot of theory and then you have a lot of science. But there are 1500 to 1600 farms in Taranaki going to have to make changes. So, the question was how do we build the knowledge and make thos changes in a way that every farmer is capable of implementing? We got funding and the project is now one-year-old."
There are two distinct parts - Gibson Farm is one of two properties owned by the Trust and located right beside the Fonterra factory at Hawera.
Gibson Farm has divided itself in half but, rather than a line down the middle, the split is based on alternative paddocks to get a better balance. Half is called the 'future farm' and the other is a 'control block'. Each trial block runs about 130 cows.
"The future farm is allocated 70 units of N, limited PKE and is doing things like deferred grazing, introduced plantain and chicory so there is a diverse pasture type and a lower stocking rate," Laurence explains.
"Conversely, the standard farm uses PKE, is allocated 190 units of N and the stocking rate is higher."
The first year of the trial saw the environmental targets achieved, but as a significant financial impact. This was in part due to the fantastic summer offsetting predicted gains for the lower stock farmlet.
The Farmers
As part of his contribution, Mark Laurence has selected four farms in the province representing different climatic conditions and soil types.
There is a coastal farm, one at a high altitude, another at medium altitude and the final one has a different class of land to the others. He says it's really important to remember the project's key focus is profit - rather than milk solids.
Laurence has spent many hours with the partner farmers, whom he says are future focused and pretty switched-on people and run successful commercial operations.
"What we are talking about is how do we make changes to a farm system that can evolve to the future, but also stay profitable?" he adds.
"At the Gibson farm, you can get highly-technical and do a complete change in farm systems. But to ask a farmer running a commercial operations to do a change in farm systems is unreasonable. Not only that: it's highly unlikely that it would be effective. So, what we are saying is, taking your farm systems, how can we tweak it to make the improvements we need within how you are already operating?"
Laurence says for farmers who use lots of nitrogen, the challenge is hot to reduce that and still grow sufficient grass to maintain production.
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.
