The race to a net zero dairy farm is on, with Taranaki’s Net Zero Pilot Dairy Farm trialling ways to lower emissions while maintaining profitability.

In this episode, Anne Lee speaks with Dr Talia Grala from Fonterra’s On-Farm Excellence team about the progress at the Net Zero Pilot Dairy Farm in Taranaki. The 250ha farm is a partnership with Nestlé and is run in conjunction with Dairy Trust Taranaki. The aim is to achieve a commercially viable net-zero system by 2032. 

Host:

• Anne Lee, Senior Journalist, Dairy Country

Guest:

• Dr Talia Grala, Programme Manager, Fonterra

Talia outlines what’s been behind another 4.5% cut in emissions intensity to bring the total emissions intensity reduction to 9.5% compared with the baseline 2021/22 season. She talks about the impact of gains in animal efficiency, the use of sexed semen in reproduction, the benefits of improving animal health and the increase in production resulting from a shift back to twice-a-day milking after using a flexible milking regime the previous season. Talia explains the impact on total emissions of the increased production along with the effect of supplement type. A trial of the EcoPond technology on the farm last season showed it slashed methane emissions from effluent by about 97% and the farm will scale up the use of the technology this season. Talia also shares more about the farm’s innovative silvopasture trial where trees are planted in a grid-like pattern across grazed pasture.

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