Friday, March 29, 2024

The system that’s best for you

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With nutrient loss limits now in place in a number of areas, and more expected, dairy farmers have a number of options to reduce their farm’s environmental footprint and remain compliant.
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The first step is to understand the requirements and identify the best solution for their farming system.

In the Horizons and Canterbury regions, new legislation rolling out over the next three years will require farmers to obtain resource consent and meet nutrient loss targets. These targets have been set as output controls, in comparison to the other option of input controls, which has been adopted in other parts of the world.

Input controls define limits to inputs such as the amount of fertiliser which can be applied on a farm within a certain timeframe, whereas a focus on outputs, such as nitrogen leaching and phosphorus loss, provides farmers with more options to remain within the required limits while adopting practices which best fit their system.

When setting baselines and estimating your farm’s nutrient losses, it’s important to use accurate information – or you could limit future options.

The Overseer Nutrient Budgeting model can help provide a better understanding of where the main losses coming from. While some farmers may debate how effective it is, it can help to identify and target those key areas.

Regional councils will use and require this information for setting baseline figures for compliance, which is why it is critical that a farm’s information is entered into the system correctly.

Any error could affect the limits set and has the potential to significantly affect onfarm practices.

Companies and research groups are finding ways to limit nutrient loss, whether it’s by looking at more efficient cows, low nitrogen feeds, fertiliser products and spreading practices, effluent management systems, or cropping techniques. All combine to better understand overall farm management and how these tools and others work together to reduce nutrient losses.

The systems run on New Zealand dairy farms are highly integrated, and few options can be adopted without changing other parts of the system. This is an important consideration when looking to adopt any changes. When considering options, the overall impact on the farm system needs to be clearly understood.

Some options may result in increased labour requirements, infrastructure, and equipment, or different management practices.

Farmers should seek independent advice about mitigation options for their business, to identify the different possible solutions and select the combination that will work best for them.

Any options chosen need to complement each other, and fit within the current system. This will help ensure they are not only sustainable, but also set the farm up for success with the new consent conditions.

Linda Yates is LIC’s FarmWise manager.

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