Farmers need to evolve new systems

Dairy NZ Media Release, Friday 13 February 2015

Farmers face a new evolutionary pressure — working within nutrient limits — and with scientists and industry bodies will need to evolve new farming systems, says a University of Waikato economist.

Associate professor Graeme Doole, an economist who specialises in the connections between agriculture and the environment and advises the Government on water concerns, told the Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society’s conference in Rotorua that the economic impact of nutrient limits that are now being implemented throughout the country will be a challenge for farmers.

“It is something that the industry has to deal with because generally about 75 to 90 per cent of nitrogen eaten by cows is lost in urine,” he says.

“The impacts on water quality from the growth of dairy farming will need to be addressed and there will have to be a correction to the farming systems that have evolved over the past 200 years.

“The issue now is that they will need to evolve these systems to reduce their impact on the environment,” Doole says.

“The national policy statement for freshwater management will bring about freshwater quality limits that will require farmers to have systems that can reduce their nutrient leaching and loss of sediment and microbes.

“It is not just about nitrogen.

“We have a multi-factor pollution issue and it’s also about managing phosphorus, e-coli and sediment impacts on our waterways.

“We have to move away from this nitrogen fixation.”

Dr Doole is confident that mitigation measures will be developed that will be cost-effective for farmers to implement.