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Below is a summary of projects carried out during the 2008/09
season in the Farm Systems area.
Note: These were proposed contracted amounts. Actual final paid
amounts may vary from these numbers.
| Project | Project Number | Description | Partners | Funding (Excl. GST) |
| Farm Systems Extension | SY701 AN720 |
To drive farmer Adoption toward sustainable profitability targets through an integrated Programme of Field Extension. | DairyNZ Ltd |
$4,227,000 |
| On-farm Innovation | SY702a |
To identify and report on successful on-farm innovations so that a wider group of farmers can potentially benefit from them. | DairyNZ Ltd |
$87,000 |
| Farm Systems Development &
Regional Demonstration |
SY702b |
To enhance the learning value for New
Zealand dairy farmers that can be derived from the Lincoln
University Dairy Farm (LUDF), the BOP Focus Farm and the Southland
Focus Farm by: Creating an awareness of on farm processes to solve problems and to demonstrate a suite of tools that allow pro-active management of pastures and other aspects of the farm operation. |
DairyNZ Ltd |
$272,000 |
| Southland Demonstration Farm |
SY702c |
The Southland Demonstration Farm will enable Southland Dairy Farmers to establish a centralized focal point and influence Southland dairy farmers through practical demonstration to make more sustainable and profitable decisions on their own farms. It will also enable industry partners and influencers the opportunity to link together to ensure messages are provided in the context of a whole farm system rather than in isolation. | Southland Demonstration Farm
Ltd |
$100,000 |
| BOP Focus on Dairying | SY702d |
Set up focus farms and other events in the BOP and through effective demonstration, influence farmers in the BOP to make their farms more profitable, sustainable and satisfying. The Focus Farms will also be a vehicle to promote the key messages from the various programs of work. | BOP Focus on Dairying Charitable Trust | $50,000 |
| Dairy Push |
SY702e |
The DairyPush programme, which is funded by DairyNZ, Fonterra and the South Waikato Economic Trust, was launched in 2007 by the South Waikato Council to increase dairy farmers profitability with a significant financial flow-on to the South Waikato community. | DairyNZ Ltd |
$50,000 |
| Systems decision support tools | SY702g |
Determine an effective intervention in a group to teach/support farmers to adopt feed planning tools for decision making and to identify any opportunities/needs of rural professionals for the feed planning tools. | DairyNZ Ltd |
$87,000 |
| Labour Productivity |
SY702h |
The overall objective of the Labour
Productivity project is to improve Labour productivity on New
Zealand Dairy Farms by 20% by 2018. This will be determined by a
20% increase in cows/FTE by 2018. Secondly, the project needs to ensure labour productivity is a fundamental concept integrated into other DairyNZ products/resources and thinking. |
DairyNZ Ltd |
$287,000 |
| Prototype Farms for Dairy Farming's
Future |
SY703 |
Implement new technologies on a
farmlet scale towards the targets of: 1750kg milksolids per TOTAL hectare used and a 50% reduction in Nitrate leaching, while maintaining current production levels. This project is aimed at leading dairy farmers, already performing at a high level of pasture harvested per ha for their region, who wish to make more effective use of their land and feed resource while minimising their impact on environmental measures. |
DairyNZ Ltd |
$320,000 |
| Automatic Milking |
SY704a |
To develop and deliver farming
systems and methods to automate milking in pasture-based dairy
systems. The main objectives in 2008/09 will be to: Compare the performance of two farm systems incorporating automatic milking technology. Monitor the performance of the first commercial farms to adopt automatic milking systems. Develop decision-support tools for farmers considering farming with automatic milking systems. |
DairyNZ Ltd |
$370,000 |
| Operational Milking Management - Achieving Shorter Milking Times | SY704b |
To reduce the labour required for
milking in conventional herringbone and rotary dairies by setting a
maximum milking time. |
DairyNZ Ltd |
$302,000 |
| Animal Measurement/Principles of
Information Use on Farms |
SY704d |
The overall aim of this research is
to build knowledge and expertise to underpin the development and
adoption of advanced tools to optimise farm production, mitigate
labour constraints, improve animal welfare and broaden lifestyle
choices. This will be achieved in the areas of automation
technology to reduce manual labour and information technology to
increase output via better decision making. This project is the first year of a proposed 3 year programme. In 2008/09 there are two objectives: Evaluate the value of current activity-based heat detection systems and develop improved detection algorithms. Review the current knowledge and practice in concentrate feeding for pastoral dairy systems and recommend a research strategy to optimise the response to concentrate feeding in view of the increasing adoption of in-shed feeding systems. |
DairyNZ Ltd |
$450,000 |
| Forage Value for Increased
Productivity |
SY705 |
The Strategic Framework for Dairy Farming's Future 2005-2015 has a 4%p.a. sustainable productivity target that will provide considerable challenges for New Zealand's pasture-based farm systems. The industry has been centred around perennial ryegrass-based pastures but further productivity increases will likely require diversification of the industry's forage base to include other forages that can increase dry matter (DM) production, better meet the cows' nutrition requirements and improve environmental sustainability. Previous research has identified the benefits of individual forages. The Forage Value for Increased Dairy Productivity project aims to integrate some of these forages and develop a new farm systems concept (Forage Mixed Ration (FMR) Farming) for farmers that increases outputs and decreases input costs. Farmers may need tools to assist with adoption of new farming systems and the project also aims to develop a Forage Value (FV) Model that calculates the relative economic worth of different forages and can be used by farmers to select optimum forages for their own FMR system. | DairyNZ Ltd |
$250,000 |
| On-farm risk in the dairy
industry |
SY706 |
The research aims to increase the understanding of risk management i.e. identification of current and future risks; risk impact on individuals and the industry; peoples' perceptions of risk; management strategies and tools used; and processes or information required to implement these tools and strategies in an effective and timely manner. This greater understanding of risk will identify effective processes and practices, and information required, to assist all those involved dairy farm management e.g. farmers, consultants and extension workers, researchers. | AgResearch Ltd |
$113,000 |
| Extension evaluation |
SY707a |
The aim of this project is to develop and implement an evaluation of industry investment in extension in relation to farmer adoption. This will inform continuous improvement of extension and underpin communication to stakeholders. | DairyNZ Ltd |
$178,000 |
| Applied Adoption Research | SY707b |
The aim of this project is to undertake Adoption Research which will increase the effectiveness of Extension in the NZ Dairy Industry. | DairyNZ Ltd |
$87,000 |
| Farm systems modelling |
SY708 |
To develop and apply computer models to explore farm system and environmental questions that are expensive and difficult to answer with traditional research methods. | DairyNZ Ltd |
$347,000 |
| Improving financial capability of dairy farmers | SY710 FB802 |
This project aims to improve the strategic and financial capability of New Zealand dairy farmers. | DairyNZ Ltd |
$87,000 |
| Science Interns |
SY711 |
To create a new generation of dairy industry professionals to drive the sustainability and productivity of New Zealand dairying by developing skills in research, development and extension. | DairyNZ Ltd |
$173,000 |
| Dairy industry datacentre |
SY712 |
To develop and populate a database of dairy industry economic data, economic models and results of past analyses as a resource for industry monitoring and to enable future analyses of NZ dairy farming competitiveness, sustainability, productivity and threats to these. | DairyNZ Ltd |
$130,000 |
| Organic/Conventional Dairy Systems
Trial |
SY713 |
The long-term aim of this research is to attempt to better understand organic dairy farming systems by investigating component interactions in these systems, and by determining how impacts and interactions change over time as organic systems mature, through the establishment and maintenance of two comparative farmlets, one managed organically (and certified) and the other managed conventionally. | Massey University |
$171,000 |
| Winter feeding systems for Southland's burgeoning dairy industry: A Framework for deciding the best options | SY801 |
To deliver a framework which will
enable farmers to make informed decisions on which wintering system
best suits their farm resources and goals and identify priorities for future research to fill information gaps. |
DairyNZ Ltd |
$44,000 |
| Pasture management systems for Northland: Quantifying the effect of three different pasture management systems on milk production and farm profitability | SY803 |
FD To compare the productivity
and profitability of three different pasture management systems in
Northland - kikuyu based farmlet using mechanical control of
pasture; kikuyu based farmlet using no mechanical control of
pasture and an all ryegrass farmlet. |
Northland Dairy Development Trust | 139,000 |
| Grow Organic Dairy |
SY804 | This farmer led research project aims
to identify the key management practices of successful organic
dairy farmers to: Grow the organic dairy network Lift the production of individual farms Increase innovation capacity of the sector Make sustainable organic dairy production methods an attractive proposition to other dairy farmers |
The Organic Dairy and Pastoral
Group |
$89,000 |
| Telford Dairy Demo Farm |
SY805 |
Provide relevant information to the
Otago dairy community on important areas of: Pasture management Effluent management Herd production and health Dairy grazing management and crop management on sensitive soils Provide a centre for discussion of dairy related issues (refer to co-related research projects 3.10). |
Telford Farm Training
Institute |
$86,000 |
