Alongside the research, the project captured farmer experience through the use of P21 Focus Farms and case studies.
P21 research programme
Farmlets were set up in four regions (Southland, Canterbury, Manawatu and Waikato) with the aim to address issues relevant to each region, the farmlets:
Aimed to reduce nutrient loss by:
- Reducing Nitrogen (N) inputs (N fertiliser and supplements)
- Capturing urine (N) in late summer-winter
- Protecting wet soils in autumn and spring to decrease sediment and phosphorus runoff.
Maintained milk production with fewer inputs through:
- Achieving more production per kg of liveweight
- More milk per cow per day
- More days in milk
- Applying well-known principles of pasture management and grazing
- Using N fertiliser to fill deficits, not boost surpluses
- On wet soils, using standoff to protect paddocks and grow more pasture.
See DairyNZ Technical Series March 2017 for a summary of the P21 research programme.
P21 regions
P21 Focus Farms
DairyNZ worked with three commercial farms that made changes to their farm system based on the P21 trials:
- A Family owned and operated farm - Tihio, South Waikato
- Lincoln University Demonstration farm
- A Ngai Tahu cooperative farm - North of the Waimakariri River
The focus farm operators had the following advice:
P21 Case studies
Eleven P21 case studies from Southland, Canterbury and Manawatu captured farmer experience in:
- Reducing N inputs (mainly supplements), and
- using off-paddock facilities to capture urinary N at critical times and protecting critical source areas (soils, gullies and swales).
Find out about farmer participants' key learnings and experiences here.
*DairyNZ, Fonterra, Dairy Companies Association of New Zealand, Beef + Lamb New Zealand and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, PGG Wrightson, Blue Pacific Minerals, and managed by AgResearch.
Further information
- Ryegrass trial summary - Trial summary for Using short-rotation ryegrass to improve matching spring-pasture supply with cow feed demand.
- Sequence cropping - Using a winter 'catch crop' of oats after a kale crop to reduce nitrogen leaching.
- Reducing surface run off - Reducing surface run off on grazed winter forage crop paddocks by strategic grazing management.
- Decision triggers for using off-paddock facilities during autumn & spring - Research trials at Telford by AgResearch have established that restricting the time cows spend grazing on wet soils in spring and autumn will reduce N leaching and pugging damage.
- Pasture and Grazing Management: Pastoral 21 experience - research summary
- Management guidelines for reducing nitrogen fertiliser use: an approach to reduce nitrate leaching from Dairy systems - research summary
- Management guidelines for a loose house soft bedding shelter for wintering dairy cows
Transitioning onto winter crops
The Pastoral 21 experience (pdf) - The Pastoral 21 (P21) project reviewed BCS gain achieved during transitioning and winter grazing on to fodder beet and two treatments of kale crops over three winters.
Transitioning on to winter crops (pdf) - A critical factor in profitable winter grazing and targeted Body Condition Score (BCS) gain is the efficient transitioning of cows on to crop.