A BALANCED SYSTEM IS KEY TO EFFICIENCY

Above: Consultant David Law says crust depth on a pond says a lot about the balance of the entire dairy farm.

EXPERIENCED BIOLOGICAL consultant David Law says he can tell a lot about a dairy farm from the depth of crust on top of the effluent pond.

“It is now clear to me that every part of the farming system plays an important role for the whole farming enterprise to function correctly, economically and sustainably – yet few farmers and qualified experts have connected all the dots,” he says.

He has developed a concept he calls the BioCircle, which shows the important interaction of all activities on the farm. This includes showing not only the success which can be achieved, but also the damage which can occur if any particular area of the BioCircle is not performing to its best.

He says a dairy farm effluent pond, which is generally used as a dumping ground, will show the biggest visual picture of what the whole BioCircle is doing.

Many people think the problems associated with effluent start in the effluent pond, which leads to farmers investing and supporting a whole industry of machines to process it.

In fact, the effluent pond and its associated problems is the result of all the activities which come before the pond.

These include chemicals used in the cowshed; cow health and her ability to digest feed efficiently; feed quality including fullness of nutrition with trace elements; soil quality including the level of nutrients and pH; and trace minerals to grow quality feed for the cow.

A good balanced soil, which allows balanced nutrients to feed grass and legumes, will also feed the microbes which then move through the system to beneficially affect the feed grown and the correct balanced rumen in the cow, creating the best conditions to digest the feed eaten.

The more feed digested by these quality conditions created by a perfectly balanced soil, means not only higher production, but also a resulting effluent pond naturally free of crust.

“After all, a crust on an effluent pond is merely undigested feed. A crusted pond signals an inefficient farming system,” he says.