scholarly journals Farm level survey of spore-forming bacteria on four dairy farms in the Waikato region of New Zealand

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. e00457 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tanushree B. Gupta ◽  
Gale Brightwell
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Dairy Farms ◽  
Farm Level ◽  
Spore Forming Bacteria

scholarly journals Flood Impacts on Dairy Farms in the Bay of Plenty Region, New Zealand

Climate ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 30
Author(s):  
Ryan Paulik ◽  
Kate Crowley ◽  
Nicholas A. Cradock-Henry ◽  
Thomas M. Wilson ◽  
Ame McSporran
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Flood Hazard ◽  
Dairy Farm ◽  
Dairy Farms ◽  
Flood Damage ◽  
Water Flooding ◽  
Farm Level ◽  
Changing Climate ◽  
Response And Recovery ◽  
On Farm

Flood damage assessments provide critical information for flood hazard mitigation under changing climate conditions. Recent efforts to improve and systemise damage assessments have focused primarily on urban environments with few examples for primary industries such as dairy. This paper explores the adverse consequences of flooding on dairy farms in the Bay of Plenty region, New Zealand. Ex-tropical Cyclone Debbie in April 2017 caused prolonged riverine and surface water flooding on over 3500 hectares of dairy farmland. The event provided an opportunity to develop and apply a participatory approach for collecting information about on-farm flood damage, and both response and recovery actions implemented by dairy farmers. Semi-structured interviews and transect walks with farmers revealed a range of direct and indirect damages to production and capital assets, influenced by duration of inundation, silt deposition and seasonality. Results highlight the need to identify on-farm and off-farm asset interdependencies of dairy farm systems to estimate long-term socio-economic consequences at farm-level. Enhancing dairy farm flood resilience in a changing climate will rely on farm-level response and recovery plans, proactively supported by emergency management agencies, farm service suppliers and support agencies.

Automatic Milking Systems: an option to address the labour shortage on New Zealand dairy farms?

2002 ◽  
pp. 39-43
Author(s):  
J.G. Jago ◽  
M.W. Woolford
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Dairy Industry ◽  
Research Programme ◽  
Working Hours ◽  
Dairy Farms ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Labour Shortage ◽  
Commercial Farms ◽  
Grazing Systems ◽  
Automatic Milking Systems

There is a growing shortage of labour within the dairy industry. To address this the industry needs to attract more people and/or reduce the labour requirements on dairy farms. Current milk harvesting techniques contribute to both the labour requirements and the current labour shortage within the industry as the process is labour-intensive and necessitates long and unsociable working hours. Automated milking systems (AMS) have been in operation, albeit on a small scale, on commercial farms in Europe for a decade and may have the potential to address labour issues within the New Zealand dairy industry. A research programme has been established (The Greenfield Project) which aims to determine the feasibility of automated milking under New Zealand dairying conditions. A Fullwoods MERLIN AMS has been installed on a protoype farmlet and is successfully milking a small herd of 41 cows. Progress from the prototype Greenfields system offers considerable potential for implementing AMS in extensive grazing systems. Keywords: automated milking systems, dairy cattle, grazing, labour

An evaluation of a strategic de-stocking regime for dairying to improve nitrogen efficiency and reduce nitrate leaching from dairy farms in nitrate-sensitive areas

2000 ◽  
pp. 105-110
Author(s):  
Cecile De Klein ◽  
Jim Paton ◽  
Stewart Ledgard
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Nitrate Leaching ◽  
Management Practice ◽  
Field Measurements ◽  
Dairy Farms ◽  
Nitrogen Efficiency ◽  
Management Tool ◽  
Pasture Production ◽  
Leaching Losses ◽  
Sensitive Areas

Strategic de-stocking in winter is a common management practice on dairy farms in Southland, New Zealand, to protect the soil against pugging damage. This paper examines whether this practice can also be used to reduce nitrate leaching losses. Model analyses and field measurements were used to estimate nitrate leaching losses and pasture production under two strategic de-stocking regimes: 3 months off-farm or 5 months on a feed pad with effluent collected and applied back to the land. The model analyses, based on the results of a long-term farmlet study under conventional grazing and on information for an average New Zealand farm, suggested that the 3- or 5-month de-stocking could reduce nitrate leaching losses by about 20% or 35-50%, respectively compared to a conventional grazing system. Field measurements on the Taieri Plain in Otago support these findings, although the results to date are confounded by drought conditions during the 1998 and 1999 seasons. The average nitrate concentration of the drainage water of a 5-month strategic de-stocking treatment was about 60% lower than under conventional grazing. Pasture production of the 5-month strategic de-stocking regime with effluent return was estimated based on data for apparent N efficiency of excreta patches versus uniformlyspread farm dairy effluent N. The results suggested that a strategic de-stocking regime could increase pasture production by about 2 to 8%. A cost/ benefit analysis of the 5-month de-stocking system using a feed pad, comparing additional capital and operational costs with additional income from a 5% increase in DM production, show a positive return on capital for an average New Zealand dairy farm. This suggests that a strategic destocking system has good potential as a management tool to reduce nitrate leaching losses in nitrate sensitive areas whilst being economically viable, particularly on farms where an effluent application system or a feed pad are already in place. Keywords: dairying, feed pads, nitrate leaching, nitrogen efficiency, productivity, strategic de-stocking

Characterisation of AmpC and extended-spectrum beta-lactamase producing E. coli from New Zealand dairy farms

2021 ◽  
Vol 117 ◽  
pp. 104998
Author(s):  
Sara A. Burgess ◽  
Jacinda Aplin ◽  
Patrick J. Biggs ◽  
Georgia Breckell ◽  
Jackie Benschop ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Dairy Farms ◽  
Beta Lactamase ◽  
Extended Spectrum Beta Lactamase ◽  
E Coli ◽  
Extended Spectrum

scholarly journals Estimation of dairy pastures - the need for standardisation

1997 ◽  
pp. 221-225 ◽  
Author(s):  
N.A. Thomson ◽  
D.A. Mccallum ◽  
S. Howse ◽  
C.W. Holmes ◽  
P.N.P. Matthews ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Dairy Farms ◽  
Ground Level ◽  
Common System ◽  
Standard Observer ◽  
Standard Calibration ◽  
Standard Set ◽  
Research Centres ◽  
Calibration Equations

A study was undertaken to determine the reason for the differences in the estimation of pasture mass between dairying research centres in New Zealand and to define a common system of estimation that would overcome these differences and be able to describe the pasture situation on commercial dairy farms in different parts of New Zealand. Differences in the visual estimation of pasture between a standard observer and a local observer at the different dairying research centres in the order of 900 kg DM/ha were identified. This was attributed to a lack of regular visual calibration of persons who regularly assessed pasture, as differences between centres in the actual harvested DM yields of the visually assessed plots varied less (200-400 kg DM/ha). To achieve uniformity it is recommended that all centres measure total herbage mass (the amount of herbage above ground level) to regularly calibrate pasture assessment in dairy grazing management studies and on dairy farms. A reasonably consistent estimation of average farm cover, the ranking of paddocks (r2 > 0.9) for the purposes of determining grazing order and the estimation of pre- and post-grazing herbage mass was achieved using the rising plate meter and L'Huillier & Thomson's standard set of calibration equations published in 1988. With these recommendations, estimation of pasture will be more uniform. Standard calibration of the plate meter for the determination of rate of DM disappearance (pre-post grazing) achieved less consistency. Keywords: herbage mass, pasture assessment, pasture height, rising plate meter, visual pasture estimation

scholarly journals ECONOMICS OF NITROGEN USE IN DAIRYING

1982 ◽  
pp. 70-75
Author(s):  
D.A.L. Buxton
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Research Work ◽  
Dairy Farms ◽  
Early Spring ◽  
The Other ◽  
Stocking Rate ◽  
Nitrogen Use

During the last 10 to 15 years, the use of fertiliser N at low rates on New Zealand dairy farms has become more popular. There are many ways in which fertiliser N can be used to increase pasture and milkfat production. Five of those options are analysed, viz. I. High rates of N. 2. Bridging a spring feed deficit. 3. Increasing stocking rate. 4. Earlier calving. 5. More cow condition. Research work is finding the best times and rates of application of N. The extra pasture produced must then be utilised to maximise milkfat responses. Trials have shown that the use of high rates of fertiliser N ( > 80 kg N/ha) is unlikely to be profitable on N.Z. dairy farms. N used to enable more cows to be wintered, and then milked in early spring, appears to be very profitable, due to better utilisation of later spring-autumn pasture growth. The other three options are also profitable, but the increase in total farm milkfat production is only 3 to 4%. The options need to be tested more thoroughly with models and grazing experiments.

The Phytoremediation Potential of Native Plants on New Zealand Dairy Farms

2014 ◽  
Vol 16 (7-8) ◽  
pp. 719-734 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason L. Hahner ◽  
Brett H. Robinson ◽  
Zhong Hong-Tao ◽  
Nicholas M. Dickinson
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Native Plants ◽  
Dairy Farms

scholarly journals Developing farm-level sustainability indicators for Ireland using the Teagasc National Farm Survey

2016 ◽  
Vol 55 (2) ◽  
pp. 112-125 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Ryan ◽  
T. Hennessy ◽  
C. Buckley ◽  
E.J. Dillon ◽  
T. Donnellan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Social Indicators ◽  
Dairy Farms ◽  
Strongly Correlated ◽  
Farm Level ◽  
Farm Systems ◽  
Farm Survey ◽  
Farm Sustainability ◽  
On Farm

Abstract In the context of an expanding, export-dependent agri-food sector, indicators of sustainable development and intensification are necessary to measure, assess and verify the comparative advantage afforded by Ireland’s natural pastoral-based food production systems. Such indicators are also necessary to ensure that we produce more food with less adverse impacts on the Irish environment, climate and society. This article outlines the development of farm-level indicators that refect the multifaceted nature of sustainability, which is encompassed in economic, environmental and social indicators. The role of innovation in farm sustainability was also examined. A comparison of indicators across Irish farm systems showed that dairy farms, followed by tillage farms, tended to be the most economically and socially sustainable farm systems. In relation to greenhouse gas emissions in particular, the top-performing dairy farms, in an economic sense, also tended to be the best-performing farms from an environmental sustainability perspective. This trend was also evident in relation to the adoption of innovative practices on farm, which was found to be strongly correlated with economic performance.

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