Business Rural Autumn 2021

| 51 Wetlands restoration a ‘legacy project’ Longford intermediate pupils at a planting day at Waipahi wetland. West Otago farmer Gerard Vallely is restoring 9ha of wetland as a legacy project. Kelly Deeks A group of West Otago farmers is steering the way towards water quality with a mission to return rural Otago’s most degraded river, the Pomahaka River, to the pristine condition once enjoyed by previous generations. The Pomahaka Water Care Group, established in 2014, comprises a contributing membership of 50% of farmers within the Pomahaka River catchment. One of these farmers, Gerard Vallely, is rede- veloping 9ha of underutilised waste area on one of his two adjacent dairy farms, originally planned for paddock development, into a wetland. “It was going to be the last paddock I developed before I retired, and I would have turned it into green grass,” he says. “But these are changing times, and we are trying to do the right thing.” Although the catchment board had installed a drain through the area in the 1960s and 1970s as an incentive for farmers to increase their stocking rates, Gerard says ‘they are now telling us to go the other way’. “So we’re going to let the water back out into this wetland, slowing down the creek so the sedi- ment drops to the bottom while the nutrients will flow over the top, and into these native grasses which absorb the nitrogen out of the water and act as a filter for part of the Waipahi River catch- ment.” Development of the wetland began two years ago. Gerard split his existing block into two, converting a run off into a second dairy farm. The farms border three streams which are tributaries DAIRY » Ruwan Wijayasena / Gerard Vallely: Scott Burgess • from page 50 Lean systems eliminate waste – which sees us eliminate waste in all its forms including time, milk, people etc,” explains Ruwan. This has seen them develop stringent proce- dures for best results for many aspects of their operation such as how to wash up after milking. “If everyone follows the same procedure this means we know how much product will be used, the time it will take and the result will be the same every time.” The couple are always learning how to do things better. For example they have moved to a grass based system over the past two years and buy in no feed. While production has dropped slightly profitability hasn’t. Their cows produce around 400 kilograms of milk solids each season. They are also keen to give back to the industry, which has given them so much. This year they are the regional managers for the Dairy Industry Awards for Canterbury/North Otago. of the Waihapa River, which flows into the Poma- haka, and these streams have all been fenced to prevent stock access. After another 12 months of planting there will be 20,000 native plants in the wetland, with a lot of volunteer labour, from the Pomahaka Water Care Group and local schools and businesses already planting thousands of plants. “Our local Lions Club will soon start building 100m of wooden boardwalk through the wetland,” Gerard says. “In the future, the wetland can be used for science and education. The ecology and biodiver- sity of the area is expected to flourish by planting mingi, flax, cabbage trees, among other natives, and we hope to see native birds return. “This is a legacy project for us, our family, the local community, and many others to enjoy for decades to come.” Gerard and his wife Ann bought and converted the original 375ha Waipahi farm in 2009. Their son-in-law Scott Burgess joined the business two and a half years ago to convert a recently purchased 124ha adjacent run off into Lynwood Dairies, which he now runs. Scott says it is a nice long block of land in a great dairying climate, with rain coming down off the Blue Mountains when it’s needed. He planned for evenly sized paddocks and is pleased with his easy to use effluent system, which gives a low dose rate with two sets of pods supplying two sets of K-lines. Now in its second year of milking, Lynwood Dairies is tracking towards 480kgs milksolids per cow, exceeding the target of 470kgs. “So we’re going to let the water back out into this wetland, slowing down the creek so the sediment drops to the bottom while the nutrients will flow over the top, and into these native grasses which absorb the nitrogen out of the water and act as a filter for part of the Waipahi River catchment.” • Concrete • Fertiliser Spreading - Farm Mapping - GPS Tracking - Varible Rate Spreading • Livestock Cartage • Grain Cartage • Shingle Supplies • Daily Freight Leeston: 03 3248 070 Dunsandel: 03 3254 039 reception@ellesmere.co.nz For all your Trucking needs, call: 027 227 2324 or Proud to be associated with Burgess and Vallely www.cluthavets.co.nz 03 418 1280