While dairy farming is a contributor to declining water quality it is not the only one. Is elevated blood BHB a suitable indicator of poor performance in grazing cows? ''New Zealand needs to spend its resources on innovative solutions, not beating itself up,'' he said. Water is valued highly by New Zealanders, whether it’s for sport and recreation, cultural significance, beautiful landscapes or wildlife habitats. Dr Jan Wright said the conversion of beef and sheep farming to dairy farming land had increased nutrient loads on waterways. New Zealand freshwater quality has declined, and dairy farming is one identified contributor to this decline. This research provides insight into dairy farmers responses to the water quality interventions introduced to mitigate diffuse pollution, and the socio-cultural dynamics that shaped their responses. This proved that mitigation measures, such as riverbank planting, were not enough to offset the increased nutrient load from increased land use change. Even with best practice mitigation, the large-scale conversion of more land to dairy farming will generally result in more degraded fresh water.''. Email: s.heubeck@niwa.co.nz Abstract As part of a dairy farm effluent pond monitoring program, effluent flow and key water The growth of New Zealand’s highly profitable dairy industry has, to a large extent, been made possible by irrigation schemes which deliver the massive volumes of water … This short clip outlines some of the key issues for our rivers, our climate and our farmers. Find out how to protect productive farmland and avoid waterway contamination by controlling erosion. Pastoral farming – which accounts for 40 percent of New Zealand’s land area – is undoubtedly the main source of diffuse pollution. This paper provides a case study of the intensification of dairy farming in New Zealand and its detrimental Creating a riparian management plan to fence, plant and protect waterways is now easy with our new online tool. Conversely, regulation in agriculture was commonplace in most first world countries at this time. Forages for reduced nitrate leaching programme, Selwyn and Hinds - Meeting a Sustainable Future, Meeting a Sustainable Future Partner Farms. 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It passes through the highly productive Waikato region, where dairy farming is a common land use. All agricultural industries carry some responsibility and where the dairy industry has been regulated to help mitigate declining water quality, no such regulations exist for beef, sheep or deer farming. New Zealand has nearly five million cows, more than its human population of about 4.7 million. Industrial dairy farming in New Zealand is causing big problems for our rivers. He said even if all dairy farmers employed industry best practice, nitrogen levels would increase and make swimming and fishing in many of our lakes and rivers a thing of the past. Contact details for DairyNZ regional offices, consulting officers, and our Farmer Information Service. "Further unregulated dairy expansion is not in the best interest of our economy or our environment. He said that even with good management practice on farms, such as reducing nutrient loss, further declines in water quality from dairy intensification would continue if expansion was not limited. From research and the services we provide, to education, policy and the Dairy Industry Strategy, there's so much to discover in this section. The New Zealand dairy industry receives widespread public criticism of its environmental impacts. New Zealand has had a reputation for being ‘clean and green’ – a country of environmental beauty. Unfortunately, it is particularly difficult to control nitrogen. Improve lives, nurture animals, enhance the environment and design the future in a dairy career. Information about feed management on dairy farms, including seasonal management, production systems, supplements, crops and pasture types. Animal management is a critical component of farm profitability and sustainability. Canterbury had the highest conversion rate with 122,500ha, followed by Southland with 111,900ha. When asked to quantify the water pollution created by dairy farms, Mr Engel responded, "I don't see where they are." Irrigation New Zealand chief executive Andrew Curtis said the report did not tell them anything they did not already know. Declining water quality has coincided with a boom in New Zealand’s dairy industry, the biggest exporter in the world. He said the question they need to tackle was how to grow farming while improving water quality. ''Unfortunately, if we continue to see large-scale conversion of land to more intensive uses, it is difficult to see how water quality will not continue to decline in the next few years. Water is valued highly by New Zealanders, whether it’s for sport and recreation, cultural significance, beautiful landscapes or wildlife habitats. 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