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  • Farming is an economic venture – farmers work the land to gain an income. Many New Zealand farmers have an interest in preserving and enhancing the land for future generations. In order to maximise economic returns and look after the environment, there are a number of farm management practices that help to minimise the effects of nutrient1 leaching2 and run-off3 and reduce sediment4 loss from paddocks.

    Rights: Tuatara Press

    Farming in New Zealand

    Farming is an economic venture – farmers work the land to gain an income. Many New Zealand farmers have an interest in preserving and enhancing the land for future generations.

    Planning a nutrient budget

    Farmers prepare nutrient plans to help identify how much nutrient is added compared to how much is used or lost to the environment. They identify nutrients5 coming into the farm through fertiliser6, clover nitrogen7 fixation8, urine, manure, compost and so on. They also identify what is going out through milk, fibre, meat and produce sold, as well as environmental losses. Planning helps farmers determine whether nutrients are being used effectively and indicates the amount of avoidable nutrient leaching and run-off. Farmers can then ensure they only add the nutrients they need.

    Regulations

    Some local authorities require farmers to follow regulations to protect the environment. For example, Waikato Regional Council’s plan requires farmers who apply more than 60 kilograms9 of nitrogen fertiliser per hectare per year to prepare and use a nutrient plan. The plan has to include the steps the farmers will take to reduce nutrient and sediment losses. Farmers can use soil tests, environmental and climate10 data11 and production goals to predict nutrients in the soil and nutrient losses. Advisors are available to help with this analysis.

    Winter practices

    During winter, soil on some farms can become waterlogged. The wet pasture is trampled by cows, resulting in an almost completely muddy surface that farmers call pugging. This leads to more faecal12 and soil nutrient run-off13 into streams and rivers. Badly pugged paddocks may take years to recover, which has an impact on farmers’ productivity. Management practices include getting cows and stock off wet paddocks and capturing urine and effluent14 through the use of feed pads, stand-off pads or wintering herd shelters15 (or barns).

    Rights: Cow Comfort Barns

    Wintering barn

    A wintering barn in western Southland. Wintering shelters and barns are purpose-built drained resting spaces where stock can be held for long periods to minimise damage to pastures.

    A feed pad16 is a firm surface used for short periods of time where stock are given supplementary feed. The feed pad collects and contains the effluent. Stand-off pads (no provision for feeding) and herd shelters17 (provision for feeding) are purpose-built drained resting spaces where stock can be held for long periods to minimise damage to pastures. They are often made from free-draining material such as woodchips, sawdust or bark. Herd shelters protect cows from wind and rain (they are covered). All systems should be able to collect and contain effluent, which can then be applied to the land as needed.

    Using feed pads is known to decrease nitrogen leaching by up to 60% when used 3 months of the year. Other options are spreading stock over several paddocks or timetabling an off/on grazing programme (such as 6 hours grazing, 18 hours off – using a stand-off pad18 over winter). AgResearch has shown that the practice of timetabling grazing can decrease nitrogen leaching by up to 25%.

    It is expensive to set up any of these systems, but the long-term cost of pugging paddocks and degrading water quality is also high. Farmers have to weigh up these costs and think about their fertiliser management practices. For example, applying nitrogen and phosphorus19 fertilisers20 should be minimised in winter because it is the time of naturally slow growth and highest leaching due to climate conditions21.

    Containing and using effluent

    Storing effluent from feed pads means farmers can utilise the nutrients from the effluent when required instead of spending money on fertilisers. Kits are available to test effluent for nutrient content.

    Rights: The University of Waikato Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato

    Using effluent

    Effluent can be collected from stand-off pads or herd shelters, mixed and returned to the land when needed. This helps to regulate nutrient input on the land.

    Problem areas

    Places on the farm such as yards, races, tracks and silage pits22 are particularly prone to leaching and groundwater23 pollution. Yards contribute large volumes of faecal bacteria24 to streams. Yards should be located away from stormwater flows, and they should be protected from the rain. Races and tracks can create large amounts of soil and effluent run-off, polluting the water and creating a health risk to animals and people. Problems can be avoided through careful design. Silage25 pits should be created away from areas where overland water can flush nutrients out of the bottom of them.

    Riparian management

    To prevent effluent from entering waterways directly, farmers are encouraged to plant and fence off waterways and wetlands26, pipe water races through culverts and reticulate water (divert waste away from rivers using a network of pipes). The benefits are:

    Rights: University of Waikato

    Managing the nutrient problem

    Dr Ross Monaghan from AgResearch at Invermay in Otago talks about various practices that can be employed to manage nutrient losses from becoming a problem on farmland.

    • reduced nutrient losses to waterways
    • improved water quality for stock drinking water
    • fewer losses of stock from drowning
    • reduced build-up of sediment (less expense clearing drains and better habitats27 for fish and insects)
    • less trampling and erosion28 damage.

    New technologies

    Researchers and farmers are always looking for new ideas. Some of the techniques to help minimise nutrient loss include:

    Read how some of these solutions are being put into practice.

    Nature of science

    Science is changing all the time. To address the environmental impact of farming, science and technology are constantly evolving to help improve nutrient efficiency on farms throughout New Zealand.

    Related content

    Plantain as an added feed source may be helpful in reducing nitrogen losses to groundwater and surface water30 and reducing greenhouse gas31 emissions from soil.

    Useful link

    This 2019 news article aims to summarise the major government and Reserve Bank policy changes currently underway and to provide some context around these changes.

    1. nutrient: A substance that provides nourishment for growth or metabolism.
    2. leaching: When a compound becomes dissolved in water and moves from one place to another, for example, a fertiliser in the soil dissolves in rain water and ends up in a stream.
    3. run-off: Water carried away from land to streams and rivers.
    4. sediments: Material that settles to the bottom of a liquid. In geology, it describes the solid fragments of inorganic or organic material that come from the weathering of rock and are carried and deposited by wind, water or ice.
    5. nutrient: A substance that provides nourishment for growth or metabolism.
    6. fertiliser: Compounds that are given to plants to promote growth.
    7. nitrogen: A non-metal – symbol N, atomic number 7. Nitrogen is essential for life. It is a component of many molecules that make up cells, including DNA and proteins.
    8. fixation: The process of converting atmospheric nitrogen (dinitrogen gas, N2) to forms that can be used by plants and animals to carry out many of the functions of life.
    9. kilogram: The base unit of mass in the International System of Units (SI).
    10. climate: The weather conditions of an area averaged over a series of years, usually 30 or more.
    11. data: The unprocessed information we analyse to gain knowledge.
    12. faeces: The excreted waste product of digestion in animals – poo.
    13. nutrient run-off: Nutrients, especially excess nutrients from fertiliser applications on pastures and from livestock dung, are carried by surface or ground water and flushed into waterways. This can cause eutrophication.
    14. effluent: The outflowing of water from a system – often refers to the discharge of sewage, but can also be natural, for example, the outflowing of a river to the sea. Agricultural effluent refers to the treated and untreated wastewater collected during the management of livestock.
    15. herd shelter: A generic term to describe an area where cows can be removed from the pasture for a period of time. It collects effluent, which can later be applied to the land as needed. It also shelters cows from wind and rain.
    16. feed pad: A firm surface used for short periods of time where stock are given supplementary feed.
    17. herd shelter: A generic term to describe an area where cows can be removed from the pasture for a period of time. It collects effluent, which can later be applied to the land as needed. It also shelters cows from wind and rain.
    18. stand-off pad: In agriculture, a stand-off pad is a firm surface, purpose-built as a resting place where stock can be held for long periods of time to minimise damage to paddocks.
    19. phosphorus: A chemical element with the symbol P and atomic number 15. Phosphorus is essential for life, playing a critical role in cell development and in producing ATP, DNA and lipids in plants and animals.
    20. fertiliser: Compounds that are given to plants to promote growth.
    21. condition: An existing state or situation; a mode or state of being.
    22. silage pit: A silage pit (or silo) is a place to store silage. Silage is fermented, high-moisture plant material used to feed animals (usually cows or sheep).
    23. groundwater: Water located beneath the Earth’s surface in soil spaces and in fractures of rocks.
    24. bacteria: (Singular: bacterium) Single-celled microorganisms that have no nucleus.
    25. silage: High-moisture feed for livestock that is made from crops fermented anaerobically (without oxygen) and can be stored over winter.
    26. wetland: An area of land that is saturated with water, often referred to as a swamp or bog. Wetlands may be seasonally or permanently water-logged with vegetation adapted for life under those soil conditions. Wetlands are known as repo in te reo Māori.
    27. habitat: The natural environment in which an organism lives.
    28. erosion: Wearing away of the land by mechanical action, such as by wind, water and glaciers, and by material carried in them. It can also be the gradual wearing away of a surface due to friction, particle collisions or chemical attack. Part of the process of erosion transports material away.
    29. nitrification: Part of the nitrogen cycle. A process that takes place in the soil where bacteria convert ammonium into nitrites and then nitrites into nitrates.
    30. surface water: A body of water above the substrate or soil surface – for example, streams, rivers, lakes and oceans.
    31. greenhouse gases: A natural or manmade gas that traps heat in the Earth's atmosphere and contributes to the greenhouse effect. The main greenhouse gases are water vapour, carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), ozone and industrial gases such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). These gases in the Earth's atmosphere trap warmth from the Sun and make life possible. An overabundance of greenhouse gases leads to a rise in global temperatures – known as the greenhouse effect.
    Published 30 July 2013, Updated 24 September 2024 Referencing Hub articles
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        nutrient

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      2. A substance that provides nourishment for growth or metabolism.

        sediments

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      4. Material that settles to the bottom of a liquid. In geology, it describes the solid fragments of inorganic or organic material that come from the weathering of rock and are carried and deposited by wind, water or ice.

        fixation

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      6. The process of converting atmospheric nitrogen (dinitrogen gas, N2) to forms that can be used by plants and animals to carry out many of the functions of life.

        data

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      8. The unprocessed information we analyse to gain knowledge.

        effluent

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      10. The outflowing of water from a system – often refers to the discharge of sewage, but can also be natural, for example, the outflowing of a river to the sea. Agricultural effluent refers to the treated and untreated wastewater collected during the management of livestock.

        stand-off pad

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      12. In agriculture, a stand-off pad is a firm surface, purpose-built as a resting place where stock can be held for long periods of time to minimise damage to paddocks.

        silage pit

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      14. A silage pit (or silo) is a place to store silage. Silage is fermented, high-moisture plant material used to feed animals (usually cows or sheep).

        silage

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      16. High-moisture feed for livestock that is made from crops fermented anaerobically (without oxygen) and can be stored over winter.

        erosion

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      18. Wearing away of the land by mechanical action, such as by wind, water and glaciers, and by material carried in them. It can also be the gradual wearing away of a surface due to friction, particle collisions or chemical attack. Part of the process of erosion transports material away.

        greenhouse gases

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      20. A natural or manmade gas that traps heat in the Earth's atmosphere and contributes to the greenhouse effect. The main greenhouse gases are water vapour, carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), ozone and industrial gases such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). These gases in the Earth's atmosphere trap warmth from the Sun and make life possible. An overabundance of greenhouse gases leads to a rise in global temperatures – known as the greenhouse effect.

        leaching

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      22. When a compound becomes dissolved in water and moves from one place to another, for example, a fertiliser in the soil dissolves in rain water and ends up in a stream.

        fertiliser

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      24. Compounds that are given to plants to promote growth.

        kilogram

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      26. The base unit of mass in the International System of Units (SI).

        faeces

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      28. The excreted waste product of digestion in animals – poo.

        herd shelter

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      30. A generic term to describe an area where cows can be removed from the pasture for a period of time. It collects effluent, which can later be applied to the land as needed. It also shelters cows from wind and rain.

        phosphorus

      31. + Create new collection
      32. A chemical element with the symbol P and atomic number 15. Phosphorus is essential for life, playing a critical role in cell development and in producing ATP, DNA and lipids in plants and animals.

        groundwater

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      34. Water located beneath the Earth’s surface in soil spaces and in fractures of rocks.

        wetland

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      36. An area of land that is saturated with water, often referred to as a swamp or bog. Wetlands may be seasonally or permanently water-logged with vegetation adapted for life under those soil conditions. Wetlands are known as repo in te reo Māori.

        nitrification

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      38. Part of the nitrogen cycle. A process that takes place in the soil where bacteria convert ammonium into nitrites and then nitrites into nitrates.

        run-off

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      40. Water carried away from land to streams and rivers.

        nitrogen

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      42. A non-metal – symbol N, atomic number 7. Nitrogen is essential for life. It is a component of many molecules that make up cells, including DNA and proteins.

        climate

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      44. The weather conditions of an area averaged over a series of years, usually 30 or more.

        nutrient run-off

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      46. Nutrients, especially excess nutrients from fertiliser applications on pastures and from livestock dung, are carried by surface or ground water and flushed into waterways. This can cause eutrophication.

        feed pad

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      48. A firm surface used for short periods of time where stock are given supplementary feed.

        condition

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      50. An existing state or situation; a mode or state of being.

        bacteria

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      52. (Singular: bacterium) Single-celled microorganisms that have no nucleus.

        habitat

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      54. The natural environment in which an organism lives.

        surface water

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      56. A body of water above the substrate or soil surface – for example, streams, rivers, lakes and oceans.