Efficient water use in dairy shed

 For dairy farmers, secure and reliable access to water is an essential to operating a milking shed. In Waikato, home to 4000 dairy farmers, many also need a consent to legally take this water. 

The Waikato Regional Council rule framework under which farmers need this consent was confirmed in the well-publicised ‘Variation 6’ process. 

Setting these rules involved public and stakeholder participation, and ultimately the Environment Court.  Out of this came ‘the rules’ aimed at striking a balance between managing the adverse effects of too much ground- and surface-water use, and enabling people to use water in an environmentally sustainable way.

Variation 6 ultimately acknowledged that many dairy farmers were using water in the shed but did not have the required resource consent from the council, and that they needed consent to use more than 15m3 per day for this purpose. Consents will also be needed for lower takes in particular circumstances.

Special rules were included which guaranteed that a water consent would be granted to any dairy farmer  for the amount they were taking prior to October 15, 2008. These are generally referred to as ‘grandparented’ water takes. About 3500 consent applications are expected.

To take advantage of this grandparented allowance, farmers must apply for consent by January 1, 2015, or risk missing out if they miss the deadline. They must also remember that if they don’t have the necessary consents for their water take they face a follow-up from the council.

To help avoid such risks, the council is making the consenting process as easy as possible through a ‘catchment group processing’ approach to receiving and processing the thousands of applications expected. 

This is designed to streamline things and keep costs down for farmers. More detail on this grouped catchment process is available at www.waikatoregion.govt.nz/watertakes or on Waikato Regional Council’s freephone 0800 800 402. 

A key detail is that, in the absence of widespread water use records, assessments of entitlement will be based on herd size prior to October 2008 and a figure of 70L/cow/day.

Meanwhile, as the actual consent granted will be based on water volume not cow numbers, there is an opportunity for smart operators, whenever they started their business, to make more profit by being more efficient.

For example, a farmer with a consent for 21m3 could milk up to 300 cows on 70L/cow/day. If he improves water use efficiency to 60L/cow, he could milk 350 cows with the same volume of water.

But if cow numbers have increased since 2008, or conversions to dairying have happened since then, the water needed to maintain current operations may not be available.

If farmers anticipate any problems, they must start thinking outside the square now and talk to the likes of DairyNZ, their milk company or the regional council.

Many farmers are taking the opportunity under Variation 6 to think about managing their water use more efficiently, to benefit their pockets and the environment.

Potential exists for farms to share water resources under Variation 6. Transfers of allocation rights are possible, though they need to be assessed on a case-by-case basis for potential environmental effects. It may also be possible to store water not needed immediately, for use at a time of maximum advantage, or it may be transferred to another user. These options can be discussed with the council or DairyNZ.

Another efficiency tool is water metering which can, for example, help detect leaks and save energy.

Other simple and efficient ways to reduce water use include:

• Making sure the flow rate on the milk cooler is right, and recycling cooler water for shed wash down
• Using a scraper or a chain to scrape the yard before washdown
• Making sure hoses have efficient nozzles and/or reducing the number of hoses
• Putting a timer on the yard washdown pump

www.waikatoregion.govt.nz/watertakes

• Amy King is leader, farm water consents, Waikato Regional Council. Electra Kalaugher is environmental farming systems advisor.

• This article first appeared in Getting the Basics Right 2014.