26 | nzdairy DAIRY PEOPLE » Jon Pemberton The farm redevelopment also includes a new solar-powered dairy shed and feed pad. Karen Phelps Southland dairy farmer and 2025 Nuffield Scholar Jon Pemberton is putting his research into action at home, using a major dairy expansion project to demonstrate how farming and environmental improvement can work hand-inhand. The Brydone farmer is converting a neighbouring sheep and beef property into an expanded conventional dairy operation - a project that has become a practical example of the ideas explored in his Nuffield NZ Scholar report. Jon and his family have nearly doubled the size of their home farm after purchasing the adjoining 116ha organic sheep and beef property to add to their existing 139ha dairy platform. But rather than simply increasing cow numbers, the expansion has been designed with environmental outcomes front of mind. At the centre of the project is a large-scale wetland development, transforming a 2ha semi-drained rough area into a 7.5ha open-water wetland system designed to help improve water quality before it reaches the nearby Mataura River. “We’re walking the talk,” Jon says. “There’s no better place to do that than in your own backyard.” The $50,000 wetland project received partial funding support from Fish & Game NZ and the Bird Habitat Trust, who helped shape the design to maximise biodiversity and environmental outcomes. The project also addresses growing concerns around nitrate and nutrient losses in the Edendale area, which has a long history of groundwater quality challenges. “We asked, how can we clean the water before it reaches the Mataura River?” Jon says. “That’s been a big driver for us.” As part of the redevelopment, cows have been removed from river-adjacent paddocks, which have instead been converted into a 20ha silage block. Across both properties, the family has already seen nutrient losses reduce by about 10 percent. The farm redevelopment also includes a new solar-powered dairy shed and feed pad, all designed to improve efficiency while reducing environmental pressure. “The solar was as much around resilience as economics, as we have a 100 Kent battery with 73kw solar,” Jon says. Jon’s work on farm reflects the themes explored during his Nuffield Scholarship research project, entitled Reputation versus Reality in NZ: Searching for Our North Star. During his scholarship year Jon travelled through the United Kingdom, Ireland, the Netherlands, Poland, Brazil, Canada and the Chesapeake Bay region of the United States, studying global approaches to environmental management and agricultural sustainability. A key focus of his research was whether market mechanisms could be developed around naturebased solutions such as wetlands and nutrient Environmental outcomes front of mind offsetting at a catchment scale in New Zealand. “This research started with a practical question on our own farm: can we harness poorly drained or less productive land and turn it into something valuable for water cleaning and biodiversity?” he says. His findings challenge the idea that farming and clean waterways must be mutually exclusive. “We can change how we interact with the environment while still farming profitably,” he says. Jon hopes projects like his own can encourage more solution-focused conversations around freshwater management and land use change. A field day held on Jon’s property on June 19 gave farmers and industry representatives the opportunity to see the redevelopment first-hand, 0800 SGTDAN (748326) Gorton Street, GORE Ph: 208 3965 E: admin@sgtdan.co.nz Working with you for happy, healthy and producঞve animals in the south. 24/7 EMERGENCY CARE Lowburn Ag showcasing how the conversion was undertaken under National Environmental Standards rules and highlighting the role wetlands could play in future farming systems. Jon’s full Nuffield NZ Scholar report can be found online.
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