Nutrient management

Background:

Utilisation of nutrients on dairy farms can be inefficient. To ensure nutrients are not a limiting factor, farmers often apply more fertiliser than soil/tissue tests suggest is needed. This can have environmental, regulatory and efficiency implications.

Project objective:

Build industry understanding about how to improve nutrient efficiency, including building confidence in existing best practice nutrient management guidelines.

Project scope:

This project focuses on both on and off farm nutrient movement. Key activities include:

• Identify nutrient loss processes and the effectiveness of different management practices in reducing nutrient loss at a field and whole farm scale.
  
• Develop a generic dairy catchments modelling tool able to predict the potential impacts of environmental practice change.
  
• Incorporate the nutrient accounting algorithms into existing industry and next user nutrient management DSS, for example the IPL nutrient management DSS and the Murray Goulburn nutrient budgeting tool.
  
• Implement nutrient extension pilots across Australia incorporating the recommendations from Dairy Australia's market research “Barriers to adoption of good nutrient management practices”.
  
• Disseminate research findings to researchers, farmers, farm consultants and fertiliser re-sellers.

Outcomes/benefits

Improved nutrient use efficiency increases farm productivity/profitability. A key feature is the high level of support from NRM agencies, government, fertiliser companies and water authorities. Increased confidence among stakeholders in the outcomes of farmer and NRM stakeholder investment in on farm change in nutrient management will reduce the risk of adverse nutrient management regulatory policy.

More information:

For more information, please contact Cathy Phelps, Dairy Australia Natural Resource Management Program Manager.