Andrew Hoggard

National Chairman, Federated Farmers Dairy

Nitrogen leaching in

pasture based systems

The Issue- Initially Cows in Waterways

- Then effluent disposal

- Now Nitrogen Leaching form Soil

- Driven by Urine spots and an increase in the area of land in Dairy Farming

- Has created a band wagon for anyone with an axe to grind to jump on board

- Vegans

- Trade Unionists

- Environmentalists

The Response- Initially Denial – didn’t work

- Then clean Streams Water Accord

- Now Sustainable Dairy Water Accord

- Environmental Stewardship is one of the Ten Objectives of the Strategy for Sustainable Dairy Farming.

- Regional Councils have put in place regulations in many regions

- Regulations are around outputs not inputs

- Outputs measured via Overseer Computer model

What can the Farmer do- Exclude Cows from Waterways

- Create/Protect Wetlands

- Correct effluent storage

- Low application Effluent

- Nutrient Budgeting

- Whole Farm Plans

- Stocking Rate

- Supplementary Feeding

- Feed Pads/Cow housing

- Smart Irrigation

- Good soil management

Future Options

- Nitrogen Inhibitors

- New Pasture variety's, including GM

What 25,000km of fencing actually looks like

The Environment Challenge –Where we need to be by 2025

- Need to rebalance the debate

- Get all farmers at Best Practice

- That’s ALL farmers not just Dairy Farmers

- We all want swimable rivers

- But we want jobs and a standard of living as well

- Limits and allocation may not be the best way forward

- More research into Mitigation

Thank You

For More Information on the NZ approach Visit

http://www.dairynz.co.nz/environment/