Prioritisation of farm scale remediation efforts for reducing losses of nutrients and faecal indicator organisms to waterways: A case study of New Zealand dairy farming

Monaghan, Rachel; Klein, Cecile A. M. de; Muirhead, Richard W.

doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2006.07.017

Cited by 94 publications

(67 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…Monaghan et al 2007;de Klein et al 2010). One of these research initiatives was the Best Practice Dairying Catchments project, which was established in 2001 to integrate environmentally sustainable practices into dairy farming (Monaghan et al 2008). In 2001, 2003, 2006, detailed farm and land-management surveys were conducted in five catchment to gather information on farm productivity levels, fertiliser use, purchased feed, farm effluent, irrigation, and soil management practices.…”

Section: New Zealandmentioning

confidence: 99%

Intensification of grassland and forage use: driving forces and constraints

Oenema

Klein

Alfaro³

2014

Crop Pasture Sci.

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Abstract. The increasing demand for safe and nutritional dairy and beef products in a globalising world, together with the needs to increase resource use efficiency and to protect biodiversity, provide strong incentives for intensification of grassland and forage use. This paper addresses the question: 'Does intensification of grassland and forage use lead to efficient, profitable and sustainable ecosystems?' We present some notions about intensification of agricultural production, and then discuss the intensification of grassland-based dairy production in The Netherlands, Chile and New Zealand. Finally, we arrive at some conclusions.External driving forces and the need to economise (the law of the optimum) provide strong incentives for intensification, that is, for increasing the output per unit surface area and labour. The three country cases illustrate that intensification of grassland use is a global phenomenon, with winners and losers. Winners are farmers who are able to achieve a high return on investments. Losers are small farmers who drop out of the business unless they broaden their income base. The relationship between intensification and environmental impact is complex. Within certain ranges, intensification leads to increased emissions of nutrients and greenhouse gases to air and use of water per unit surface area, but to decreased emissions when expressed per unit of product. The sustainability of a grassland-based ecosystem is ultimately defined by the societal appreciation of that system and by biophysical and socioeconomic constraints.In conclusion, intensification may lead to more efficient and profitable and, thereby, more sustainable grassland ecosystems. This holds especially for those systems that are currently not sustainable because they are either underutilised and of low productivity or over-exploited and unregulated, and as long as the adapted systems meet societal and ecological constraints.

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Section: New Zealandmentioning

confidence: 99%

Intensification of grassland and forage use: driving forces and constraints

Oenema

Klein

Alfaro³

2014

Crop Pasture Sci.

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“…Similarly, the degree to which obstacles prevent a farmer from taking action to limit pollution are accounted for within the framework. Monaghan et al (2008) suggest that the most effective mitigation strategies are those that address the main sources of contaminants within a system such as the use of advanced pond systems. Of course the human dimension must also be factored in to gain an appreciation that while infrastructure may be advantageous for limiting FIO loss from land to water, poor management can over-ride its intended benefits.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Diffuse microbial pollution from agriculture is recognised as a major contributor to water quality impairment (Kay et al, 2007;Kay et al, 2008a;Monaghan et al, 2008). Faecallyderived pathogens such as Escherichia coli O157:H7 can impact not only on water quality but also human health.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A cross-disciplinary toolkit to assess the risk of faecal indicator loss from grassland farm systems to surface waters

Oliver

Fish

Hodgson³

et al. 2009

Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment

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Diffuse microbial pollution from agriculture is a key contributor to water quality impairment.Reducing the risk of microbial contamination of watercourses from agricultural sources requires both environmentally appropriate and socially acceptable mitigation and management approaches. A cross-disciplinary toolkit for on-farm microbial risk assessment is presented that can represent both social and environmental factors promoting or preventing the accumulation of faecal indicator organisms (FIOs) within the farm environment, and also their subsequent transfer to watercourses. Four key risk criteria were identified as governing FIO loss from land to water. These were 'accumulating E. coli burden to land', 'landscape transfer potential', 'infrastructure' and 'social and economical obstacles to taking action'. The toolkit can be used to determine (i) the relative risk of a farm enterprise contributing to microbial watercourse pollution and (ii) appropriate and targeted mitigation to reduce the risk of FIO loss from land to water. A comparison of the toolkit output with microbiological water quality draining from three contrasting grassland farm enterprises provided a preliminary evaluation of the prototype approach. When applied to 31 grassland farm enterprises the toolkit suggested that 0% were categorised as negligible risk, 32% low, 65% medium, 3% high and 0% very high risk. Such qualitative risk-based tools can assist the policy community not only to target high risk areas, but also to develop mitigation strategies that are sensitive to the different ways in which risk is produced. Capacity for long-term cross-disciplinary research is argued to be the means by which these integrated and more sustainable solutions may emerge.

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“…Dairy farming comprises 32.8 km 2 (8%) of the Lake Brunner catchment (Rutherford et al 2008). The catchment is one of five wholly or predominantly dairy farming catchments in New Zealand where changes in water quality that derive from adoption of best management practices, such as riparian stock exclusion and vegetation are being examined (Wilcock et al 2007;Monaghan et al 2008).…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A dairying catchment monitoring study initiated in the Inchbonnie Valley in 2004 sought to understand and mitigate impacts of dairy farming on Lake Brunner. The study was part of a national, catchments-based monitoring study (Best Practice Dairying Catchments for Sustainable Growth) that examined the linkages between dairy farming and receiving water quality and derived appropriate tools for mitigating adverse effects (Wilcock et al 2007;Monaghan et al 2008). Two catchments in the study are located in established dairying areas of the North Island, while the Inchbonnie catchment is one of three that are in the South Island of New Zealand (Wilcock et al 2007;Monaghan et al 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Managing pollutant inputs from pastoral dairy farming to maintain water quality of a lake in a high-rainfall catchment

Wilcock¹,

Monaghan²,

McDowell³

et al. 2013

Mar. Freshwater Res.

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Abstract.A study ) of a dairy catchment stream entering an oligotrophic lake in an area of very high rainfall (,5 m year À1 ) yielded median concentrations of total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), suspended sediment (SS) and Escherichia coli (E. coli) of 0.584, 0.074 and 3.7 g m À3 , and 405/100 mL (most probable number method), respectively. Trend analysis indicated significant (P , 0.01) decreases for TN (À0.08 AE 0.02 g m À3 year À1 ), TP (À0.01 AE 0.005 g m À3 year À1 ) and SS (À0.45 AE 0.14 g m À3 year À1 ) and were partly attributable to improved exclusion of cattle from the stream. Water balance calculations indicated that approximately one-half the rainfall left as deep drainage that by-passed catchment outlet flow recorders. Estimates of catchment yields for TN were improved by taking into account groundwater hydrology and concentrations from well samples. Storm-flow monitoring inflows exceeding the 97.5th percentile contributed ,40% of total loads leaving the catchment so that specific yields for SS, TN and TP augmented by groundwater inputs and storm flows were ,960, 45 and 7 kg ha À1 year À1 , respectively. These compared well with modelled results for losses from dairy farms in the catchment of 40-60 kg N ha À1 year À1 and 5-6 kg P ha À1 year À1 and indicated that attenuation losses were relatively small.

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Prioritisation of farm scale remediation efforts for reducing losses of nutrients and faecal indicator organisms to waterways: A case study of New Zealand dairy farming

Cited by 94 publications

References 38 publications

Intensification of grassland and forage use: driving forces and constraints

Intensification of grassland and forage use: driving forces and constraints

A cross-disciplinary toolkit to assess the risk of faecal indicator loss from grassland farm systems to surface waters

Managing pollutant inputs from pastoral dairy farming to maintain water quality of a lake in a high-rainfall catchment

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