Environment and climate change 2007/08

Sustainable dairying is about balancing profitability with environmental responsibility. This is the thinking guiding DairyNZ's efforts in our work with farmers and industry partners to find environmental solutions that are practical and work on-farm, while reducing farmers' costs, and improving their efficiency and productivity.

A summary of projects carried out during the 2007/08 season in the Environment and Climate Change area.
Note: These were proposed contracted amounts. Actual final paid amounts may vary from these numbers.

Project	Project Number	Description	Partners	Funding (Excl. GST)
Progress on a broad front - implementation	EN610	This project, in conjunction with Fonterra and working with industry sector partners from the fertiliser industry and regional councils, is a concerted effort to ensure the Clean Streams Accord targets are met, nutrient efficiency on farms is improved and nutrient losses from dairy farms are reduced. View Project Summary Report	DairyNZ Ltd	$1,333,333
Regional leadership for the environment	EN603	The implementation of regional leadership groups, with regional strategies, in 10 dairying regions will be an important factor in progressing the Environmental strategy. Special projects this year include the Dairy Action Teams review, overarching work plan and communications strategy. View Project Summary Report	DairyNZ Ltd	$200,000
Dairy industry RMA policy development	EN614	This investment created the Dairy Industry Guidelines for Developing RMA Policy, a tool to assist farmers and others involved in the policy process to formulate well reasoned and clear positions on RMA policy.	Federated Farmers of New Zealand (Inc)	$62,000
Provision of specialist technical advice	EN615	This fund, available on an as-needs basis, ensures appropriate technical expertise is available to ensure environmental policy decisions made at central and local government level fairly reflect dairy industry issues.	DairyNZ Ltd	$44,000
Environmental monitoring on Lincoln University Dairy Farm	EN628	Measuring nitrogen leaching losses on both free draining and poorly drained soils at the Lincoln University Dairy Farm will provide a long-term dataset on the effect of dairy farming on groundwater quality. This information will be used to guide farm, industry and policy responses. This is an ongoing project. View Project Summary Report	AgResearch / Lincoln University	$84,000
Building dairy environment leaders	EN613	Scholarships to identify and train future farm leaders are important tools in our industry's Sustainability strategy. It is expected that selected farmers will be better skilled and better informed on sustainability issues when undertaking leadership positions representing dairy farmers. View Project Summary Report	NZ Farm Environment Award Trust (NZFEAT)	$71,000
Characterising soil nutrient accumulation and loss from dairy farm pastures on the West Coast	EN609	With Sustainable Farming Fund and other co-funding, this project aims to assess nutrient loss from two different soil types to both surface and groundwater and then formulate and test best management practices for using phosphorus. It will help in better nutrient management strategies to minimise nutrient input to Lake Brunner. View Project Summary Report	Westland Milk Products	$39,000
Annual Science Forum	EN616	This Annual Science Forum is a two-day forum where industry groups and organisations can network with scientists undertaking research projects. It will lead to a better understanding by industry of current research, a better understanding by researchers of issues faced by industry and enable the building of useful networks. View Project Summary Report	AgResearch Ltd	$27,000
Dairy Environment Programme Advisory Group	EN604	This funding supports a forum (Dairy Environment Programme Advisory Group) for key providers and stakeholders to communicate, ensuring efficient and effective delivery of the Environment programme of work.	DairyNZ Ltd	$9,000
Phosphate mitigation in Lake Rerawhakaaitu catchment	EN608	Over a three-year period, high risk sites for ground and surface water movement of phosphate in the Lake Rerawhakaaitu Catchment will be identified for research-based mitigation strategies to be trialled at these sites. The results will provide local information for farmer decision-making, assist in meeting Clean Stream Accord protocols, and become best management practice. This project is co-funded by the Sustainable Farming Fund. View Project Summary Report	Fruition Horticulture	$23,000
Communications - environment programme	EN630	Targeting strategic and operational communications significantly increases the quality of Environmental information available to all NZ dairy farmers and industry stakeholders. It is important that the availability of practical solutions, the dairy industry's position on environmental issues, progress towards achieving its objectives and the industry's future directions are well known by farmers and the industry.	DairyNZ Ltd	$244,000
Target catchments	EN631	Facilitating collective dairy farmer action at catchment scale to deliver on the targets and goals of the Sustainable Environmental Management Strategy is the goal of this project. Projects for this work included Lake Rotorua catchment, Lake Brunner, Canterbury Effluent Management Compliance Project and Project Comply. Work is completed in conjunction with other stakeholders including Fonterra, Westland Milk Products, regional councils and Dairy Australia. View Project Summary Report	DairyNZ Ltd	$267,000
Using maize to manage dairy shed effluent	EN633	This project, co-funded by the Sustainable Farming Fund, aims to demonstrate an integrated nutrient management approach for production of maize silage by verifying the capacity for maize to strip stored nutrients and utilise dairy shed effluent as a nutrient source.	Foundation for Arable Research (FAR)	$9,000
Empowering dairy farmers to improve irrigation practices	EN634A	The end result of this project is the development of a computer-based decision support tool for dairy farmers to apply irrigation water more efficiently and increase productivity while reducing costs.	AgResearch Ltd	$20,000
Adapting to a drier environment by improving irrigation practices	EN634B	The main objective is to increase the uptake of already developed and available irrigation practices and tools by dairy farmers, particularly in areas where irrigation restrictions occur.	Irrigated Dairy Farmers Group / The Agribusiness Group	$9,000
Optimising nutrient management on modified soils of the West Coast	EN635	Optimisation of nutrient use and the reduction of losses in West Coast humped, hollowed and flipped soils through developing new best practices is the aim of this research. This project is co-funded by the Sustainable Farming Fund, Landcorp Farming Ltd, Crop & Food and Westland Milk Products. View Project Summary Report	Crop and Food Research Ltd	$18,000
Optimising nutrient and effluent management on Southland dairy farms	EN636	This project, co-funded by Fonterra and Environment Southland, aims to optimise nutrient and effluent management by Southland dairy farmers through provision of direct consultation. View Project Summary Report	Southland Regional Council (Environment Southland)	$27,000
READY feasibility study	EN639	Project READY scoped business and delivery models to investigate the development of an industry-driven, on-farm initiative to improve dairy farming efficiency while achieving significant reductions in dairying's environmental footprint.	The Agribusiness Group	$64,000
One Plan - an alternative approach and compliance requirements	EN640	This project aims to develop and assess an alternative procedure for allocating nitrogen leaching allowances to dairy farms in nitrogen sensitive catchments administered by Horizons Regional Council.	Massey University	$62,000
Grazing strategies and stand-off use to minimise nitrogen emissions from dairy farms	EN641	Likely outcomes from this research are a set of guidelines for the use of stand-off facilities to mitigate nitrogenderived emissions on dairy farms by manipulating grazing and standoff to maximising urine capture without affecting farm performance and cow welfare.	DairyNZ Ltd	$18,000
Delivering environmental solutions for sustainable productivity outcomes for New Zealand's pastoral industries		Reducing N, P, sediment and Faecal Indicator Objects to waterways from New Zealand pastoral industries is central to this project.	AgResearch Ltd	$1,133,000
Reducing ruminant methane emission		Goals of the Reducing Ruminant Methane Emission Research Strategy are to: - Identify, establish and develop on-farm technologies to improve production efficiency for ruminants - Identify, establish and develop on-farm technologies for sheep, dairy and beef cattle and deer, which lower methane emissions and nitrous oxide output - Exploit commercial opportunities arising from the science and technologies in a global market.	Dairy InSight (PGGR Consortia) Ltd/ Pastoral Greenhouse Gases Research Consortium (PGgRC)	$450,000
Dairy Environment Leadership Group (DELG)		The establishment of a high-level dairy environmental leadership body gives industry a single body to discuss the industry's strategic direction.	DairyNZ Incorporated	$22,000