Training key for effluent management
Waikato Regional Council is praising dairy farmers for the investments many are making to upgrade their effluent systems.
For these farms they are now able to fully utilise the benefits of the effluent and additional fertility that it provides by applying it to the land when conditions are suitable and it fits with the farm management programme.
However, council farming services team leader Stuart Stone said monitoring staff were seeing new systems that should be working within the rules, but weren’t because staff hadn’t been adequately trained.
‘‘No matter how experienced they are, new staff should be trained to ensure you’re getting the best value out of your farm effluent management systems,’’ Mr Stone said.
‘‘It’s also important for landowners to let us know when they’ve upgraded infrastructure. We’re coming across some who’ve carried out this great work, made the investment, but we don’t know about it.
‘‘That means they’re still on their old risk rating. Notifying us of improvements means we can update our system and, because these statistics are reported nationally, it means farming industry compliance rates will lift too,’’ he said.
Waikato Regional Council has recently moved to a more riskbased monitoring approach, targeting the 19 per cent of Waikato farms with less than seven days’ storage based on two milkings per day.
The council’s programme combines one-on-one site visits of high risk farms with aerial inspections, which could include using satellite imagery, drones, fixed wing aircraft or helicopters.
Effluent irrigation –
the biggest concern
Irrigation is the biggest area of concern for the regional council, because farmers with insufficient storage are often forced to irrigate in unsuitable conditions.
This can often result in waterways becoming unnecessarily polluted, Mr Stone said.
Other factors that cause issues with irrigation are as simple as the setup of the irrigator or the irrigator struggling because of poor pump pressure or maintenance.
‘‘There are options for farmers. We’ve got experienced staff who’ll be at this year’s Effluent Expo who can discuss storage options with farmers and how they can avoid illegal discharges of dairy effluent.’’
Mr Stone said the council recognised that accidents can happen.
‘‘We get that. But farmers do have a number of ways they can reduce the risk to the environment.
‘‘If an accident happens we encourage farmers to call us – we can help with advice to mitigate the risk to the environment. At the very least it is important to ensure the waterways are protected from any effluent related accident,’’ he said.
The Waikato Regional Plan Rules relating to dairy effluent can be found at www.waikatoregion.govt.nz/ farm-effluent-rules. Most [98 per cent] of the 4500 dairy farms in the Waikato region discharge effluent to land under the permitted activity rule. The remainder are currently working under consents to discharge treated effluent to water. Farm dairy effluent is a natural, dilute liquid fertiliser. It contains nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), magnesium (Mg), sulphur (S) and trace elements.
The average dairy herd (244 cows) produces the same amount of effluent as a town with about 3400 people, such as Otorohanga. When spread over land and applied in timely fashion the effluent of 100 cows can save farmers up to $2200 in fertiliser a year (based on 2010 fertliiser prices). This saving could be significantly higher for high input farms (for example, farms feeding supplements).
Applying the maximum amount of nitrogen from effluent allowed per year (150 kg per hectare for grazed grass), dairy shed effluent also provides the following approximate amounts of nutrients:
● 20 kg of phosphate per hectare.
● 117 kg of potassium per hectare.
● Approximately 20-30 kg of sulphur per hectare.
● Smaller amounts of magnesium and calcium.
Effluent management systems should give enough flexibility to not have to irrigate.
● Do not use effluent when soil is waterlogged - it is too wet to absorb the effluent
● Do not use effluent if there is an equipment breakdown.
● Cover water troughs when irrigating effluent.
Protect waterways on your farm by:
● Do not irrigate within 50 metres of a water supply.
● Leave a 20 metre wide strip of non-irrigated land next to all watercourses.
● Ensuring spray drift isn’t getting into nearby streams or rivers.
Information provided by Waikato Regional Council