The road to improved nutrient use efficiency for a contemporary dairy industry
Dr Cameron Gourley, Senior Research Scientist, Soil Sciences, Ellinbank
Nutrient management continues to be a high priority for both production and environmental performance on Australian dairy farms. As dairy production systems intensify, increased cow numbers result in greater reliance on imported feed and fertiliser, causing larger nutrient fluxes, greater GHG emissions, and lower nutrient use efficiency. Increased animal densities can also mean excessive nutrient loads from excreta and an increasing proportion of manure requiring collection, storage and land application.
In this seminar, nutrient flows at the farm- and within-farm scale will be presented, emphasising recent research outcomes quantifying nitrogen and carbon losses from dairy cow manure and demonstrating improved nutrient management can lead to improved productivity and environmental outcomes.