The Tararua Plantain Project The Tararua Plantain Project is a five-year flagship project for the dairy sector, testing the benefits of plantain in pasture. It supports the farmers involved in using plantain as a forage and a way of reducing nitrogen leaching, and potentially reduce on-farm greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. A multi-organisation project team is involved, including Tararua farmers, agronomists and research scientists. Horizons Regional Council’s One Plan requires intensive land users to manage their nitrogen leaching, to reduce surface water algal growth in certain priority catchments, and from 2014 existing dairy farmers in these catchments were required to get an Intensive Land Use consent. The regulations were rolled out through the priority catchments with the Upper Manawatū (north from Te Apiti – Manawatū Gorge) due in 2016. The amount of nitrogen a farm could leach according to the One Plan was calculated using Overseer, a nutrient management model. When scientists updated the model it increased the leaching from farms (despite the fact that farm systems hadn’t changed), which put the nitrogen leaching targets beyond what most Tararua dairy farms could reach due to the higher rainfall and freer draining soils in this district. This left Horizons and the Tararua dairy farmers in the difficult position of having leaching targets that were impossible to meet and retain a viable business, and something was needed to try to reduce the difference. One of the other complications was that Tararua dairy farmers typically have low to moderate stocking rates with nitrogen fertiliser use that is also low by national standards. At this time DairyNZ, Lincoln, was conducting research into Forages for Reduced Nitrogen Leaching, which found that plantain could reduce nitrogen leaching depending on how much was grown and eaten, and some Tararua farmers and DairyNZ decided to team up to see how incorporating plantain into a farm system would work in practice. The farmers, with support from DairyNZ, AgResearch, Massey University, Agricom and Horizons, and funded by DairyNZ, MPI and others, have been investigating a multitude of questions regarding the effect of plantain on farm productivity and how to manage plantain to maximise persistence to give them the best chance of reducing their nitrogen leaching. Horizons Rural Adviser Ian McNab has been an enthusiastic member of the Governance team of the Plantain Project because the council recognises how important plantain could prove to be if it allows dairy farmers to continue farming in the region while reducing their effects on water quality. “Farming is an important part of our local communities and the country as a whole, and plantain could well be an integral part of pastoral farming into the future”, says McNab. He adds, “One of the advantages of plantain is that it fits in with normal pastoral agriculture practices, notwithstanding that farmers are having to learn how to manage plantain to keep it at sufficient levels in their pastures to make a difference to their nitrogen leaching”. Another important aspect of this project is how local iwi and the wider community have been involved, which McNab believes is an excellent example of everyone working together for their mutual benefit. “It also illustrates how much we all have in common in terms of our aspirations and goals for vibrant communities and a healthy environment”, he says. As well as supporting the project itself, Horizons have been quick to recognise plantain as a scientifically proven nitrogen leaching mitigation and worked with DairyNZ and farmers to devise a simple way of assessing how much plantain is in a paddock so that farmers and council staff can agree on how much plantain a farm contains. In summary, the Tararua Plantain Project is delivering real, tangible results valued by farmers, and has community at its heart as it seeks environmental improvements. It also aims to ensure the dairy sector continues as an economic pillar within the local community but it also has the potential to be adopted New Zealand wide. Plantain trial at Massey University to support on-farm research One of many field days on Murray Holdaway's farm near Ballance
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