$9m Investment In Dairy Industry

$9m Investment In Dairy Industry

23 March 2010

Ravensdown has supplied 3000 New Zealand dairy farmers with free nutrient management plans – valued at around $3,000 each – to help them farm now and into the future.
 

With farmers' land use increasingly under the spotlight by consumers, neighbours and local authorities, farmers need to prove they are responsibly managing nutrient inputs and losses to and from their farms.

“Ravensdown nutrient management plans use all farm information to estimate the sources of nutrients available to the farmer (eg., feed, soil and effluent) and then tailor fertiliser advice  to maximise efficient nutrient use and be profitable at the same time,” says Ravensdown’s Chief Scientific Officer Ants Roberts.

“There is increasing pressure on farmers from regulatory authorities and domestic and international consumers to demonstrate their ability to manage nutrients, monitor their environmental impact especially on water quality and implement mitigation options where required.

“The impacts of farming on the environment, including land application of effluent, and nutrient loss caused by grazing animals, can be managed – and managed well. Nutrient management plans are one of the important tools to help achieve this,” Dr Roberts says.

“As well as the benefits gained from using nutrient management plans, the costs of not using them are likely to include more regulation affecting farmer’s property rights as well as reduced access to markets requiring assurances around environmental sustainability of production systems rather than just products.”

Some regional councils already require dairy farmers to have nutrient management plans and they are expected to become universally required. Fonterra is increasingly encouraging their suppliers to use them too.

“Being proactive about the environmental impact of a farming operation will be an important step towards minimising industry regulation,” says Dr Roberts. 

Ravensdown fully supports sensible regional plans and is doing its part to help provide tools for farmers. “We recognised documents such as these would become increasingly important and invested a significant amount of time in completing them for most of our dairy farmers We can see their long term economic value to farmers – and to the environment,” he says.
Ravensdown nutrient management plans feature soil tests, fertiliser application history and recommendations, nutrient budgets, mitigation suggestions where relevant, local council regulations and where available our proof of placement spreading maps.

 “Aside from the environmental benefits one of their biggest advantages is for whole farm nutrient management. All the important documents pertaining to the farm are in one place so everyone on the farm knows what they are doing and when they are doing it, as well as the overall direction of the farm. They make planning easier and help a farmer implement consistent nutrient management practices.

The initial nutrient management plans provided to dairy farmers will be updated and improved moving forward.”

Nutrient management plans are just one of the powerful tools Ravensdown provides to help farmers manage the impact of their farming operation on the environment.

“Our dairy farmers have nutrient budgets to monitor the nutrients they put on and minimise inputs; all our spreaders have sophisticated spreading technology to maximise production and better look after the environment; and we offer dairy farmers eco-n (a nitrification inhibitor) that significantly reduces nitrate leaching and nitrous oxide emissions, while increasing pasture production.”

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