SPECIAL REPORT | NORTHLAND RESEARCH
Three vats provide an opportunity to understand milk composition of farmlet trials.
Testing systems for change
The Northland Dairy Development Trust and Northland Agricultural Research Farm is applying science to test management systems in a changing environment. Chris Neill reports.
T
he New Zealand dairy industry is well served with information from the basic principles to new technology, helping farmers deal with almost every matter in their farming operation. Much of that information is based on disciplined research with scientific rigour to encourage confidence in the messages delivered, acknowledging that understanding of data leads to challenges of interpretation. The cost of the science is high, so sharing and implementation of the learning is critical to creating value from the research effort. Because of the cost, research is often carried out at centralised locations, a factor which is then used by some farmers to dismiss the messages as irrelevant to their circumstance. Northland dairy farmers
are fortunate to have Northland Dairy Development Trust (NDDT) and the Northland Agricultural Research Farm (NARF) providing information that is regionally and nationally significant. NDDT directs the science and NARF provides the specialised farm facilities plus cows for trials funded by DairyNZ, MPI and Hine Rangi Trust. A Northland team of dedicated farmers and rural professionals are committed to producing meaningful science and ensuring the ongoing viability of the research farm. The three-year NDDT/NARF project “dairying in a variable climate� is in its final year. Through the first two years climatic extremes of wet and drought have tested the team to maintain protocols and produce uncompromised data. There is a connection between this trial and the
Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | November 2020
Kim Robinson, NDDT Coordinator and AGFirst consultant with the newly established mixed species pasture.
previous which allows base data to carry forward and provide greater confidence to recommendations for farmers after the extreme weather conditions experienced to date for this trial. The clear messages coming from the trial are:
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