12 | nzdairy DAIRY PEOPLE » Wilith Farm: Miah & Jenny Smith ‘It’s a time saver, a Kelly Deeks Regenerative dairy farmers Miah and Jenny Smith are now taking part in a 10-farm testing project, Rere ki Uta, Rere ki Tai, led by AgriSea New Zealand to determine whether farming methods that enhance the mana and mauri of the soil are more resilient, more pro table, more able to withstand environmental, societal and regulatory pressure, and healthier for all. Miah and Jenny started using AgriSea ve years ago on their 260ha effective Atiamuri forestry conversion in a bid to improve the condition of the degenerated post-forest soil. “When we got here, there was very little topsoil because all the pine trees had been pretty harsh on the soil,” Miah says. “I put a lot of fertiliser on but we found it didn’t make too much difference, and after 10 days of dry, the grass would stop growing.” After about four years of doing the recommended thing of conventionally applying more fertiliser, Miah and Jenny on dug a few holes and found three to four inches of root depth. “That told me straight away why the grass would stop growing when we got dry. All the fert levels were where they needed to be, but we seemed to be putting more on every year.” Two years into their AgriSea trial, the Smiths had double the root depth in the AgriSea paddock, and in ve years the pH went from 5.4 to 6.2, with no lime, just Agrisea product. Miah and Jenny rolled out AgriSea across the whole farm, reducing fertiliser and adding biology, then reducing a bit more and adding a bit more. They have also put in seven or eight different species of grasses and herbs, the diversity helping to activate essential bacteria and fungi and keep the soil working more ef ciently. Miah and Jenny have dropped their N use by 60%, and their animal health costs have dropped from $80 per cow to $27 per cow. “It’s more stress-free farming,” Miah says. “It’s a time saver, a stress saver, and a money saver. We still have problems of course, but now we have more tools to x those problems. Miah is the AgriSea farm advisor on the Rere ki Uta, Rere ki Tai project team and has taken part in the soil testing on 10 farms, including his own, then provided recommendations for biologicals to be used alongside the normal rate of conventional fertiliser, and reducing this over the next three years. “We’ve also done visual soil assessments and put together some seed mixes for farmers who want to change their cropping regime to include multi-species pastures as a way to fast track their biology. We’ve seen some farms with beautiful soil right from the start, but they are still reliant on that nitrogen as well. We learn something from every farmer, whether they are conventional or not.” Miah and Jenny Smith have added multi-species pastures to their regenerative farm to fast track their soil biology. The couple have dropped their N use by 60%, and their animal health costs have dropped from $80 per cow to $27 per cow. Atiamuri Dion 027 2911 269 Hayden 027 277 8626 SPECIALISTS IN: Livestock Cartage • General Cartage • Excavator & Bulldozer Hire
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