Environmental, Jon and Birgit Pemberton (Southland)
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Jon and Birgit Pemberton run a 139ha dairy farm in Brydone, milking around 400 cows. They supply milk to Open Country Dairy. Their farm includes a milking area near the Mataura River, which sometimes floods, and 2 leased blocks for youngstock and silage. They use a 28-aside herringbone dairy with in-shed feeding. Each cow is typically given in-shed supplements and the lactation supplement includes wheat, PKE, and pasture silage. The page also compares various farming scenarios and their impact on factors like nitrogen leaching, methane emissions, and operating profit.
Jon and Birgit Pemberton are owner-operators of a 139ha farm in Brydone, milking approximately 400 cows producing 560 kg MS/cow through a 28-aside herringbone dairy with in-shed feeding. They supply milk to Open Country Dairy.
The farm is self-contained with 2 leased support blocks being used for youngstock, wintering and making silage for the milking platform. The milking platform is adjacent to the Mataura River and is subject to flooding. Approximately 200 kg N/ha has typically been applied to pasture and up to 1100 kg DM/cow of in-shed supplement is offered. Lactation supplement is wheat, PKE and pasture silage.
Farm profile (2019-20)
Milking platform effective area:
123ha
Support block effective area:
100ha (x2 leased)
Operational structure:
Owner-operators
Infrastructure:
28-aside herringbone with in-shed feeding
Cows wintered:
405
Planned start of calving:
1 August
Stocking rate:
3.2 cows/ha
Production:
1,778 kg MS/ha; 561 kg MS/cow
Soil type:
Brown, Recent, Gley; 65% well or moderately drained, 35% poorly drained
Annual rainfall:
1,100mm
Feed supplements:
1,214 kg DM/cow: wheat, PKE, pasture silage
Fertiliser inputs:
197kg N/ha; 32kg P/ha
Purchased N surplus:
158kg N/ha (Overseer FM v6.4.0)
Predicted N leaching:
47kg N/ha (Overseer FM v6.4.0)
He Waka Eke Noa GHG reporting:
8,959 kg CO2e/ha (OverseerFM v6.4.0)
DairyNZ system:
5
Wintering system:
On support blocks on pasture, baleage and straw
Changes relative to the 2019-20 base farm system
| Scenario | Purchased N-surplus (Kg N/ha) | N leaching loss (Kg N/ha) | P loss (Kg P/ha) | Methane (Kg CO2e/ha) | N2O kg/ha (kg CO2e/ha) | HWEN GHG reporting (kg CO2e/ha) | Operating profit ($/effective MP ha) |
| Reduce N fertiliser
on pastoral blocks to 190 kg N/ha, assume pasture eaten will be maintained.
|
-22% ↓ | -6% ↓ | 0% | 0% | -5% ↓ | -2% ↓ | +2% ↑ |
| Reduce N fertiliser
On pastoral blocks to 190 kg N/ha, assume not able to maintain pasture eaten, increase imported supplement.
|
-15% ↓ | -7% ↓ | -1% ↓ | 0% | -6% ↓ | -2% ↓ | -3% ↓ |
| 10% Plantain:
Farm stitched with plantain to target 10% of the sward; same pasture production; a third of the farm re-stitched annually.
|
-15% ↓ | -13% ↓ | -1% ↓ | 0% | -8% ↓ | -2% ↓ | -4% ↓ |
| 20% Plantain:
Farm stitched with plantain to target 20% of the sward; same pasture production; a third of the farm re-stitched annually.
|
-15% ↓ | -19% ↓ | -1% ↓ | 0% | -9% ↓ | -3% ↓ | -4% ↓ |
| 30% Plantain:
Farm stitched with plantain to target 30% of the sward; same pasture production; a third of the farm re-stitched annually.
|
-15% ↓ | -24% ↓ | -1% ↓ | 0% | -11% ↓ | -3% ↓ | -4% ↓ |
| More from less:
Stocking rate reduced by 5%, milk production maintained through an increase in per-cow production and calving 5 days early to gain days in milk.
|
-20% ↓ | -26% ↓ | -2% ↓ | -2% ↓ | -12% ↓ | -5% ↓ | +3% ↑ |
| Reduce reliance on supplements:
Only feed imported supplements in the shoulders June-Sept, Mar-May, further decrease in stocking rate of 11% compared with base.
|
-35% ↓ | -31% ↓ | -7% ↓ | -9% ↓ | -16% ↓ | -11% ↓ | -9% ↓ |
| Free stall wintering barn + 30% plantain:
Free stall wintering barn constructed and associated effluent storage, assume 590 kg MS/cow, 130 (30%) late calving cows are milked through to 21 June. Barn used 24 h/day in winter and 5 h/day during lactation. Nitrogen fertiliser reduced to account for additional effluent N. Same stocking rate as base system. Cow winter diet in barn (8 kg DM/cow baleage, 4 kg DM/cow fodder beet).
|
-22% ↓ | -49% ↓ | +2% ↑ | +22% ↑ | -20% ↓ | +11% ↑ | -23% ↓ |
| Oat 'milk':
18 ha of milking platform sown into oats in October for 'milk', harvested in April assumed grain yield of 6.8 t DM/ha and straw yield of 5 t DM/ha.
|
-7% ↓ | +18% ↑ | -3% ↓ | -6% ↓ | -9% ↓ | -7% ↓ | -17% ↓ |
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