Making the most of dairy effluent
25 November 2025
The introduction of an effluent tanker and pond stirrer has proved a positive move for dairy farmers Rachel and Jason Van Nierop of Burekup, Western Australia.
Their recent delivery included a new 10,000lt effluent tanker and PTO pond stirrer to manage dairy effluent captured in their effluent pond.
Rachel said it was a win-win situation for the farm and they’ve been able to add valuable nutrients from the effluent to improve their pastures.
“...we are also now going to be buying less fertiliser,” Rachel said.
The tanker was an appropriate option for their dairy as water use is low at <3270L per day which makes the effluent captured in the modestly sized effluent pond manageable by the 10,000L machine.
Having only recently re-started the dairy, the Van Nierop's currently milk 90 cows, predominantly Jersey, with plans to grow the herd to 120 in time.
The old dairy set-up had no application system in place so the tanker will now enable the nutrients captured in the dairy to be caught and re-used on farm while also protecting nearby sensitive waterways.
Rachel said they needed to take action as their dairy effluent had exceeded their pond’s capacity.
“We liked the idea of using the effluent on our paddocks to return the nutrients to the soil where they can be used by the plants to grow more grass, improving our production,” Rachel said.
The first use of the system was supported by the team at Nevada, including sales manager Lloyd Thomas who said the stirrer was ‘well matched’ to the situation.
He said the unique oscillating applicator allowed users to get the optimum benefits from the effluent nutrients.
“...it gives an even spread with no atomisation or wastage of nutrients into the atmosphere,” Lloyd said.
Rachel said within a few hours, Lloyd had helped them set up both the PTO Pond Stirrer and slurry tanker.
“The pond stirrer did a great job of mixing in all the solids that had crusted on the top and sides of the pond over the past 12 months, and Jason was then able to spread six loads of effluent of 10,000lt each over about 6 hectares,” Rachel said.
The stirrer mixes solids and sludge in the pond to a point where it is easily pumped by the tanker and re-applied to paddocks.
Following the setup, Dairy Australia’s DairyCare Project Manager Dan Parnell took samples of effluent for nutrient analysis.
Mr Parnell said the results show that at a 10mm/ha application rate the effluent applies 20kg/ha of Nitrogen, 4.4kg/ha of phosphorus and 8.6kg/ha of potassium.
For more information and support designing and maintaining an effective effluent system, get in touch with your local team or visit: Effluent Management.
Rachel said it was a win-win situation for the farm and they’ve been able to add valuable nutrients from the effluent to improve their pastures.
“...we are also now going to be buying less fertiliser,” Rachel said.
The tanker was an appropriate option for their dairy as water use is low at <3270L per day which makes the effluent captured in the modestly sized effluent pond manageable by the 10,000L machine.
Having only recently re-started the dairy, the Van Nierop's currently milk 90 cows, predominantly Jersey, with plans to grow the herd to 120 in time.
The old dairy set-up had no application system in place so the tanker will now enable the nutrients captured in the dairy to be caught and re-used on farm while also protecting nearby sensitive waterways.
Rachel said they needed to take action as their dairy effluent had exceeded their pond’s capacity.
“We liked the idea of using the effluent on our paddocks to return the nutrients to the soil where they can be used by the plants to grow more grass, improving our production,” Rachel said.
The first use of the system was supported by the team at Nevada, including sales manager Lloyd Thomas who said the stirrer was ‘well matched’ to the situation.
He said the unique oscillating applicator allowed users to get the optimum benefits from the effluent nutrients.
“...it gives an even spread with no atomisation or wastage of nutrients into the atmosphere,” Lloyd said.
Rachel said within a few hours, Lloyd had helped them set up both the PTO Pond Stirrer and slurry tanker.
“The pond stirrer did a great job of mixing in all the solids that had crusted on the top and sides of the pond over the past 12 months, and Jason was then able to spread six loads of effluent of 10,000lt each over about 6 hectares,” Rachel said.
The stirrer mixes solids and sludge in the pond to a point where it is easily pumped by the tanker and re-applied to paddocks.
Following the setup, Dairy Australia’s DairyCare Project Manager Dan Parnell took samples of effluent for nutrient analysis.
Mr Parnell said the results show that at a 10mm/ha application rate the effluent applies 20kg/ha of Nitrogen, 4.4kg/ha of phosphorus and 8.6kg/ha of potassium.
For more information and support designing and maintaining an effective effluent system, get in touch with your local team or visit: Effluent Management.