Nitrate leaching is a serious challenge for dairy farmers with 80% of leaching coming from urine spots.
Imagine being able to help the environment by reducing leaching as well as growing more grass and making more profit. That is what a new implement from Pastoral Robotics claims to do.
Spikey has a series of spiked discs that run along the surface of the soil seeking the urine patches by electrical conductivity detecting changes where the patches are.
It treats the patches with a liquid solution, NitroStop, which slows the conversion of nitrogen to nitrate and keeps it in ammonium form for much longer. That promotes microbial growth and allows the pasture to use more of the available nitrogen to grow and leaves less to leach into waterways.
Pastoral Robotics has invested heavily in research and the trials show Spikey can increase drymatter by 15% and reduce nitrate leaching by about 30% in the urine patches. It has tested the system with Massey University, Landcare Research and AgResearch.
Sales and marketing general manager Denis Collins is excited about what Spikey means for the sector.
“We want to capture and use that nitrogen. We don’t want it to disappear. We want to use it to grow more grass and produce more milk to export with the option of reducing nitrogen inputs.
“The primary focus is helping the environment but for farmers if they can make money at the same time and they can by using Spikey then they will be sustainable. And to be sustainable you need to make a profit somewhere along the line or it could lead to land use changes or something else.”
The firm’s economic data calculates operating costs of about $300 a hectare and at the current milk price the potential return from the extra milk production could be worth $1000 a hectare.
With a working width of 8m, Spikey attaches to tractors between 85hp and 120hp. It can also be fitted with a twin-disc fertiliser spreader that can apply urea prills, granules or blended fertilisers at rates as low as 10kg/ha.
“We had feedback from farmers if there’s already a tractor going around the paddock it would be helpful if it could apply fertiliser too.
“We made it happen and have managed to get the application rate low so it can be applied little and often.
“One farmer in Rotorua describes it as farming hydroponically.” He’s feeding just enough to give the grass what it needs.
It needs to follow the herd within 48 hours of grazing and Collins envisions it will suit a contractor type model for small to medium size farms forming clusters and sharing the machine.
“We have a syndicate of farmers in Bay of Plenty who bought a unit between them. It’s a great concept as they get the benefits from the machine but share the initial outlay costs.
“And that way more farms can get done in a day and if there is a dedicated driver it won’t add to the workload for the existing team which keeps it simple.”
Pastoral Robotics has been engaging with regional councils to encourage them to consider Spikey and NitroStop as a solution for nitrate mitigation. It supports its claims with peer-reviewed science and has also been addressing food safety concerns.
“Ultimately, in the dairy industry we are producing milk so anything we do to the pasture we need to make sure there’s no food safety issues.”
In November thefirm was awarded the energy, environment and sustainability prize by the Institute of Mechanical Engineering in London.
The prize is awarded to a mechanical engineer who has taken significant steps to bridge the gap between an unsustainable present and a more sustainable future.
“The award recognises the impact our technology will have on the world’s environment, minimising nitrate leaching and greenhouse gas emissions from pastoral farming,” managing director Geoff Bates says.
“It’s great to see New Zealand innovation being recognised by such a prestigious professional body.
“Spikey is an exciting opportunity for farmers to try to combat some environmental challenges at the same time as increasing efficiency and profitability,” he said.
