17 minute read
Research
from Dairy Farmer NZ March 2022
by AgriHQ
True cost of soil-borne disease
By Tony Benny
Research conducted by AgResearch, shows soil-borne pathogens cause extensive losses to agricultural production.
Soil-borne plant pathogens could be costing some dairy farmers more than 200 kilograms of milksolids per hectare a year in lost production, a potential loss of $909 per hectare, according to a recently published paper by AgResearch.
A research team from Ruakura research centre took samples from 30 dairy farm sites in Waikato, Canterbury and Southland and compared the growth of clover, ryegrass and plantain sown on untreated soils and samples that had been microwave pasteurised.
The paper states that “Before sampling, no obvious root disease had been reported on any of the farm sites selected”.
But the scientists found a variety of soil-borne fungal and oomycete pathogens and plant parasitic nematodes that were affecting pasture growth, particularly of clover and ryegrass.
“Soil-borne plant pathogens cause extensive losses to agricultural production globally. These pathogens cause diseases such as root rots, damping-off and wilts that have a direct cost to plant growth and survival, and reduce the efficiency of water and nutrient uptake,” the paper states.
Each sample taken was split in half. One half was pasteurised and the other half left untreated, and then seed was sown on all samples under laboratory conditions.
“Ten seeds were sown onto the surface of each pot (one plant species per pot) and covered with 5g of the respective soil. Pots were adjusted to and maintained at 75% of the soil’s MWHC (maximum water holding capacity) by watering to weight with ‘Thrive AllPurpose Soluble Plant Food’ fertiliser every three days, to ensure that nutrient was not limited for plant growth,” it says.
Aboveground plant material was harvested at six weeks and dry matter (DM) yields per plant recorded.
White clover yields increased significantly on pasteurised soils (i.e those where pathogens had been eliminated) on six samples from Waikato and one from Southland and a similar effect was found for ryegrass on soils from Waikato, Southland and Canterbury.
“The statistically significant increases in DM yield with soil pasteurisation ranged between 26% and 74% for white clover and 8% and 38% for ryegrass at individual farm sites,” the scientists found, it says.
The results were less clear for plantain.
The effects of soil-borne pathogens were greatest in Waikato overall, but samples from some individual sites in Southland did show white clover production increased by 52% following pasteurisation and on one site in Canterbury by 22% for ryegrass.
The economic cost of soil-borne root pathogens to white clover production was determined to range from $700/ ha/year in Canterbury and Southland to $1500/ha/year in Waikato. On individual farm sites, clover root diseases were found to reduce potential pasture DM production by more than 60%.
“Collectively, our findings suggest that soil-borne disease constraints impose substantial costs on pasture production in New Zealand dairy systems. These are most prevalent in the Waikato region, although still present and potentially damaging at individual sites in Canterbury and Southland.”
The scientists say given the scale of these costs, targeted management of soil-borne disease could present an economically viable approach to improving the resilience of the multiplant, multi-pathogen ecosystems. n
A sample showing a healthy, unaffected clover plant against one being affected by pathogens in the soil. Soil-borne pathogens greatly affect growth in clovers. Researchers found white clover yields increased significantly on pasteurised soil where pathogens had been removed.
Prevention over treatment
By Samantha Tennent
The way people behave and treat cattle has a profound effect on their well-being and research is underway to improve their welfare.
The second stage of a project is underway to understand human behaviour and its impacts on cattle wellbeing. The project involves gathering information from veterinarians and farmers from around the world on farming practices and routine pain management interventions.
“To be able to improve animal wellbeing, we first need to understand the needs of the animal and how they are affected by human behaviour,” project leader and senior global marketing manager for ruminant business at Boehringer Ingelheim Dr Laurent Goby says.
“But to effect change, we ultimately need to understand the behaviour of people.”
Behavioural science is the understanding of how and why people behave in certain ways. And in the context of farm animal well-being, it can help get to the root causes of what people do and why they do it. The behavioural science approach helps people select the right types of interventions for the problem they are trying to solve.
“Interventions are likely to be ineffective if they are targeting the wrong barriers,” he says.
“And trying to change multiple behaviours at once is hard, (and) trying to do so often leads to unfocused and ineffective solutions.
“But by utilising behavioural science, and specifying the target behaviour, we can design a framework to think systematically about the barriers and promoters.
“For example, should the intervention be educational or persuasive? Or a combination of both?
“And single interventions rarely work in isolation, so we need to develop multiple interventions that work in harmony with each other, to give the highest likelihood of changing behaviour.”
The project is being driven by Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health in partnership with Innovia Technology, a human psychological research firm based in Cambridge, England.
They are expecting to better understand farmer behaviours and motivations and analyse how their choices can affect cattle well-being, which will lead to designing feasible interventions that target the reasons behind different behaviours.
Stage one of the project was to select a target factor that impacts cattle well-being to focus on for the remainder of the project. They took a ground-up approach with findings from the 12th Expert Forum on Farm Animal Well-Being that took place in Prague, Czech Republic, in 2019, combined with previous research from Innovia.
At the end of stage one, the team selected the target focus for the next step of the project, which was the detection and treatment of pain, with a focus on mastitis, respiratory disease and assisted calving.
They eventually refined the target factor further to reduce the pain and discomfort associated with assisted calving. And the associated target behaviour being that farmers comply with best practices for minimising pain and discomfort associated with assisted calving, which is what needs to happen to achieve the target factor.
The project is part of a larger global engagement initiative by Boehringer Ingelheim called Cattle First. Through specific projects and case studies, Cattle First aims to work with farmers and veterinarians to best support them and the animals they care for.
Boehringer Ingelheim is the secondlargest animal health business in the
Senior global marketing manager for ruminant business at Boehringer Ingelheim Dr Laurent Goby says the research is to better understand farmer behaviour and analyse how this affects cattle well-being.
world, with net sales of almost four billion euros in 2018 and a presence in more than 150 markets. At the core of their work, they believe in prevention over treatment, which drives the development of innovative solutions in the field of vaccines, parasiticides and therapeutics.
They organise the Expert Forum on Farm Animal Well-Being annually, which brings together industry experts from around the world to discuss the latest trends, challenges and opportunities in the industry, while also striving to raise the focus on cattle pain and well-being.
And recognising people are at the heart of farm animal well-being as they care for them, design the environment they live in, consume animal products, and set policies about welfare standards.
“We can play a big role in influencing the outcomes for animal well-being and behavioural science will help us on the journey,” he says.
Learn more about the project at www.farmanimalwellbeing.com n Research is underway to study how human behaviour affects cattle.
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Research is underway on composting shelters and their benefits. The project team listening to the Canterbury farmer discussing the composting process in the bedding.
Studying composting shelters
By Cheyenne Nicholson
NZ’s first composting shelter was built by chance about eight years ago, and since then, shelters built specifically for composting have been growing in popularity.
While there is growing interest in composing shelters and a lot of anecdotal evidence to suggest they can positively impact many parts of the farm system, there is very little research on them.
A team led by Rachel Durie of Perrin Ag is looking to change that. As one of 12 projects to get the green light under round two of the National Science Challenge Our Land and Water Rural Professionals Fund, the project aims to take a whole systems focus on evaluating how a composting shelter could be integrated into a farm system. It is also seeking to quantify the impact on all areas of the farm business from environment through to production.
“They’re not common in New Zealand,” Durie says.
“The first shelter locally was built in the Waikato completely by accident. It was built to provide shelter to the cows both in winter and summer but soon found that the wood chip bedding was heating up and composting.”
“And with changes farmers are facing like winter grazing rules, I think that’s (building composting shelters) going to continue.”
The project team is interviewing farmers who have composting shelters to identify the different ways farmers are incorporating composting shelters on farms.
The shelters are specifically designed for composting, which means there are a lot of design elements to get right. Typically there are no sidewalls, so are designed to ensure good ventilation. While the size of the shelter depends on how many cows and how often it will be used, the ability to mechanically till the bedding is critical.
The composting process keeps the bedding warm, dry and clean for the cows. If you get it right, depending on the level of use, the bedding can stay in the barn for one to three years before it needs to be replaced.
While wood shavings are a common bedding source, some farmers are experimenting with other plant-based materials for bedding. Canterbury farmers involved in the project are trialling miscanthus. Its high lignin
content gives it good potential as a bedding material.
Through a combination of incorporating a composting shelter, decreasing cow numbers, and trialling miscanthus bedding, one farmer has been able to shift towards a more self-contained system. They now have the ability to rear all replacements and winter all stock on farm and are growing the bulk of their feed on farm as well.
“The neat thing about this research is there is so much we still don’t know, and a lot that we are learning from innovative farmers that have already adopted the system,” she says.
“We are still learning about different bedding types, the impact these have on the composting process and the different compositions that come out the other end.
“Similarly, we’re still learning in what ways the shelter can be incorporated into the farm to maximise beneficial impacts for the environment, animals, people and business – and that’s what this project is about.”
Research to date shows a number of benefits of composting shelters when the design and management of the shelter is done correctly. No liquid effluent comes out so there is no need for the effluent systems required for other types of barns.
“Several farms are looking at composting shelters as a way to meet environmental restrictions around nitrate leaching. Having the cows in the shelters in the late autumn and winter period can have a considerable impact on reducing nitrate leaching, with the potential reduction dependent on the system operated. I’ve completed Overseer modelling for a few farms around this, and so far, it’s looking promising,” she says.
On the animal welfare front, cows are warm and comfortable when in the shelters. One farmer involved in the project noted their winter feed requirements dropped by a third, as a result of less wastage and requiring less energy to keep warm.
“Anecdotally, farmers have also observed increased health and welfare of animals, lower mortality and potential for increased production. These are all points we are wanting to put some evidence against,” she says.
There are also some benefits on the human side of the business. Staff on farms with composting shelters have noted that the working environment is more pleasurable and satisfying with less time spent outside in the elements in the middle of winter and animals seeming to be far more content.
A common misconception around the composting system is the use of the term ‘composting barn’.
People hear the word barn and think of a fully enclosed shed that conjures up many animal welfare concerns. Composting shelters, in principle, have no sides, just a roof, which is an important part of their design to facilitate the composting, and the flooring is a soft plant-based material as opposed to concrete. The composting process generates a warm and dry environment which the cows seem to love, Durie says.
“There are some people out there who think they’ve got composting shelters, but they weren’t built for composting. They’ve never tilled it and the ventilation isn’t right, so they get steam coming out of the compost, which comes down as condensation when it hits the roof. Things get wet and smelly, which can put people off the system. In a true composting shelter, you can pick up the bedding, and it’s clean, dry and doesn’t smell at all,” she says.
The biggest question most farmers have around composting shelters is the cost. Because of the variety of different ways they can be incorporated into a farm business, the answer is, it depends.
Over the coming months, further interviews and modelling will be completed with the project due to wrap up in June and plans for further research to continue afterwards. n
Tillage in the composting shelter with steam rising as moisture escapes the bedding.
AGRICULTURE IS OUR CULTURE
It’s the Pulse of the nation
Students lead the way
By Tony Benny
Lincoln University is taking the steps it needs to be a sustainable institution and is incorporating sustainability into their courses.
Lincoln University is practicing what it preaches about sustainability, thanks in part to a group of environmental science students who three years ago produced their own sustainability plan for the agricultural education institution.
“In somewhat an embarrassing state, our senior management at that time realised we weren’t well advanced in our sustainability strategy and that the students were actually leading the way for us in the key actions that the university should be taking as an exemplar of sustainability and how we could actually approach education and research around sustainability,” Lincoln’s vice-chancellor Grant Edwards says.
Speaking at an event hosted by the university’s B.Linc unit, which exists to foster connections and collaboration in agribusiness, Edwards told an online audience that the students’ efforts inspired the creation of a taskforce to act on their recommendations.
“Two themes emerged for what we would really like to do: one around the university being an exemplar of sustainable practices, whether that’s in carbon, emissions, energy, water or biodiversity; and the second was around how our education, research and demonstration could contribute to the really important issues of sustainability both nationally and globally,” he says.
A former Lincoln student and lecturer, Edwards was appointed vice-chancellor late last year and has bold plans for the specialist land-based university, including increasing the number of full-time students from 2500 to 3500. He’s also committed to the university’s sustainability goals.
“I was intimately involved in the establishment of the Lincoln sustainability plan and that’s why I was very keen to continue in this role as chair of the taskforce,” he says.
The strategy has two goals: to be sector leaders in education, research and demonstration of sustainability; and for the university to become carbon neutral by 2030 and carbon zero by 2050.
Now the plans are being put into action.
A recent carbon audit shows Lincoln has total annual emissions of around 8500 tonnes of CO2 equivalents, more than half of which comes from the coal boiler that provides heating. It’s now planned to decommission the boiler by 2023 and replace it with a range of diversified, renewable energy sources and new infrastructure across the campus.
“We’re putting PV (photovoltaic) panels on many of the roofs and we have plans for a large solar farm associated with the university to greatly increase our own supply of renewable energy,” he says.
There are also plans to use space better with the right-sizing of Lincoln’s building programme, removal of poor and aged facilities and installation of lower energyusing LED lighting.
“We have major building going on, which presents an opportunity to demolish old buildings but also to look at opportunities around water retention solutions for water and biodiversity on campus,” he says.
A 74% reduction of waste is targeted, along with getting rid of all plastic
Lincoln University has two sustainability goals: to be sector leaders in education, research and demonstration of sustainability; and to become carbon neutral by 2030 and carbon zero by 2050.
packaging and Lincoln’s vehicle fleet will be changed over to 100% electric within the next two years.
A more challenging target is reducing the nearly 3000 tonnes CO2 equivalents associated with transport to the university by staff and students, as well as across the country on business, about the same amount of emissions which come out of one of the university’s dairy farms.
“That’s challenging because although we do have extensive accommodation within campus, about 500 students, a lot of our students live in wider Canterbury and that means there are travel requirements.”
Sustainability will also be more built in to the courses and qualifications provided by Lincoln University, with a move to make it part of graduates’ attributes.
“We often think of those in terms of employability and innovation and that they have an understanding of some core disciplines. Well, sustainability is one of those core competencies that we in the future expect every university graduate to have an understanding of too,” he says.
The university is working on its graduate attribute profile to include sustainability alongside aspects such as innovation and bi-cultural competency.
“What it means is we can put a greater value on the quality of the graduates that are coming out of the university,” he says.
Lincoln is already a leader in research on ways to mitigate agricultural methane emissions as well as nitrogen leaching, but Edwards is keen to highlight that work using a case-study approach.
“Our farms are central to that, including Lincoln’s demonstration farm, which has for the past two decades been one of the shining lights in the demonstration of sustainable practices both financially and environmentally,” he says.
“That will continue and we’re also looking to branch out into other areas such as an energy crop farm, with energy and crop production conducted simultaneously on the same farm.
“We focus on land, people and ecosystems and that defines how we talk about sustainability and the things we find really important on campus in our sustainability plan.” n Lincoln University vice-chancellor Grant Edwards says students’ efforts have led the way towards advancing the campus’ sustainability plan.
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