BUSINESS SUSTAINABLE PASTURES
SUSTAINABLE FARMING
sparks excitement
Canterbury sharemilkers Glenn Jones and Sarah Brett are embracing sustainability while making a profit. Anne Lee reports. Photos by Johnny Houston.
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perating an environmentally sustainable and progressive dairy business energises and sparks excitement for Glenn Jones and Sarah Brett. The Canterbury sharemilkers and newly minted equity partnership farm owners are enthusiastically looking forward to the future and aren’t deflated by what some can see as a myriad of challenges. “We need to embrace these challenges and weave them into the way we farm and to continue to do what we love,” Glenn says. The pair brought their effervescent drive to the fore when they spoke at last month’s Pasture Summit, which was held simultaneously in
Ireland and New Zealand and was also livestreamed to more than 150 viewers worldwide. Cutting nitrogen loss from grazed farm systems is a challenge faced in both countries. “Purchased nitrogen surplus is easy to calculate and strongly correlated to N leaching. The biggest way to reduce it is to reduce nitrogen fertiliser and supplement use – so the future is grass,” Glenn says. Managing pasture well, hitting residuals and getting stocking rate right have to be part of a farm’s DNA so that pasture eaten is lifted to push profitability while addressing environmental challenges, he says. The couple are strong advocates that when it comes to achieving
Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | August 2021
