Two farms side-by-side – one could be the future of dairying
‘‘We believe our exporters can capture opportunity in this.’’ Damien O’Connor Minister of Agriculture
❚ Ngāi Tahu Farming, in partnership with Ngāi Tūāhuriri, has been given an $8 million grant for a groundbreaking research programme.
❚ One of its 286ha dairy sites in North Canterbury will be farmed using regenerative practices, while its 330ha farm next door will use conventional methods.
❚ The environmental, financial and social impacts of each practice will then be compared over time.
A ground-breaking experiment aims to see a Canterbury dairy farm cut 20% of its greenhouse gas emissions and 20% of its nitrate leaching, and could one day change the way Kiwis farm.
Ngāi Tahu Farming, in partnership with Ngāi Tūāhuriri, has been given an $8 million grant through the Ministry for Primary Industries’ Sustainable Food and Fibre Futures fund for a seven-year research programme.
One of its 286-hectare dairy sites at Eyrewell Forest will be farmed using regenerative practices, while its 330ha farm next door will use conventional methods.
The environmental, financial and social impacts of each practice can then be compared over time.
The $11.58m programme, named Te Whenua Hou Te Whenua Whitiora (The New Land, The New Horizon), was launched yesterday at Ngāi Tahu Farming’s North Canterbury operation, Te Whenua Hou. Minister of Agriculture Damien O’Connor attended the launch event, along with Ngāi Tūāhuriri and Ngāi Tahu Farming representatives.
Ngāi Tahu Farming general manager Will Burrett said one of the key differences would be to ‘‘round length’’ – how long it took cows to graze each paddock on the farm, before getting back to the first one.
The regenerative farm would have a longer round length, taking about 30 days. The cows would graze on a more diverse range of food, from a better mix of grasses, to herbs, to nitrogen-fixing legumes.
There would also be no synthetic nitrate fertiliser used on the regenerative farm, Burrett said.
‘‘We are using alternative sources of organics and fertiliser.’’
Burrett said they hoped the regenerative site would show a substantial difference in environmental impact.
‘‘We are hoping we will be able to reduce our water requirement by 20%, reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20%, and are looking to ensure we can [increase] our soil carbon significantly.’’
In terms of nitrate leaching into the groundwater system, a significant issue in Canterbury, modelling showed there was likely to be a 20% reduction in this too, he said. Nitrate leaching would be measured in real-time, using a series of underground devices called lysimeters. But environmental impacts were not the only things being measured, Burrett said.
‘‘[It will] also provide a working environment that not only our animals and staff want to be a part of, but the wider sector can adopt and replicate at scale.
‘‘We will have collars on our cows measuring a significant number of data points every minute, to understand what the two different systems are doing to underlying animal health, reproductive health and, ultimately, our productivity.
‘‘We will even be putting sleep rings on our staff to understand if there are any underlying human wellbeing factors that we need to take into consideration.’’
Ngāi Tahu Farming manages nearly 100,000ha of farm and forestry land in Te Waipounamu (the South Island), including 5000ha of irrigated farmland on the Canterbury Plains. Burrett said the hope was to one day have a regenerative farming system that could be rolled out across the wider business.
O’Connor said consumers in markets like the United States paid high premiums for food produced through regenerative systems.
‘‘We believe our exporters can capture opportunity in this, provided there is an evidence base for it – hence our investments like this one.’’ The study aimed to demonstrate a viable alternative which enhanced soil health, had a lower environmental footprint, reduced water use, complemented the knowledge of Ma¯ori landowners, and was financially profitable, he said.
‘‘Food and fibre provide the basis of New Zealand’s economic security . . . We are focused on investing to help farmers and growers lift their sustainability in ways that capture value in our markets abroad.’’
Nga¯i Tahu Farming representative Barry Bragg said scientific research on regenerative farming at a whole-farm scale had been lacking. ‘‘This additional government funding marks a milestone for us as we can now speed up our mahi towards demonstrating the value of agricultural systems that work with the environment, not against it.’’
Te Nga¯i Tu¯a¯huriri Ru¯nanga chairperson Tania Wati said mana whenua were pleased the new programme would focus on restoring and building soil health.
‘‘It is time for change.’’