NZ Dairy Summer 2020

54 | nz dairy u s www.r raltran port.co.nz • Stock Cartage • General Freight • Fertiliser Spreading • Bulk Cartage • Hiab Hire Ashburton (03) 308 4079 Waimate (03) 689 6100 Kurow (03) 436 0849 Fairlie (03) 685 8911 T R A N S P O R T L T D · IRRIGATION SYSTEMS · REMOTE MANAGEMENT · PRECISION VRI IRRIGATEWITH CONFIDENCE Earthmoving and Farm Maintenance Done Right 30 years of local knowledge and experience makes us the right people to talk to when it comes to earthmoving and farm maintenance. We explore every angle of a project upfront to ensure it runs smoothly and efficiently. For us, being the best isn’t about getting a job done fastest, or cheapest, it’s about getting it Done Right. Find out how we will get your project Done Right at tarbotton.co.nz ON FARM » Rob & Janet Mangin Big shift in dairying as the environment L ooking back on the past three or four years of their long dairy career in Mid Canterbury, Rob and Janet Mangin are in no doubt that the single biggest shift in the sector has been towards farming for the environment. “Our focus has always been on trying to find that sweet spot between production and costs,” says Rob. “Over the past couple of years, the environ- mental footprint has also been added to that and is now front and centre in everything we do.” New regulations coming into force under the National Environmental Standards for Freshwater include setting a cap on nitrogen fertiliser at an annual maximum of 190kg a hectare. Rob and Janet are already well down that track, having been steadily reducing their fertiliser applications over the past two to three seasons. “It is as much about trying to save costs too; we’re not too far away from that 190kg target and are confident we’ll get there. Our local irrigation scheme in the Hinds Plains area has been abso- lutely brilliant helping us to get up to speed. Apart from the underlying nitrate issue, Canterbury has dealt with most of the other regulatory require- ments and we already have farm environment plans and nutrient budgets in place.” Investing to improve their farm effluent systems has been a key priority for the couple, who recently installed a new green water storage pond and solids separator. Their herd of mostly Friesian and Friesian cross cows has been steady at around 640 cows for several years, but Rob says they are considering dropping that total to around 620 or 630. “That will also help our environmental footprint: stocking rate is the biggest driver of environmental impact.” Waterways were fenced off some eight or nine years ago so they have not needed to do any ad- ditional work in that respect. Pivot irrigation on farm sets a natural limit on what areas can be planted Kim Newth • to page 56 Improving the farm effluent system has been a priority for Mid Canterbury farmers Rob and Janet Mangin, with a new green water storage pond and solids separator. “Our focus has always been on trying to find that sweet spot between production and costs. Over the past couple of years, the environmental footprint has also been added to that and is now front and centre in everything we do.”