Abstract

Media summary

Key Words

Introduction

There are approximately 280 dairy farms in WA that produce milk worth more than $160 million in total. WA dairy herds are the largest in Australia. The environmental footprint of dairy farming in high profile catchments is becoming an issue of local & national significance.

The wide-spread adoption of environmental best management practice (BMP) is a priority of Western Dairy, the Geographe Catchment Council (GeoCatch) and their partners in DairyCatch, namely Dairy Australia (DA), the Natural Heritage Trust, the Department of Agriculture WA (DAWA) and the Department of Environment (DoE). Western Dairy visualises a thriving and prosperous dairy industry committed to management practices that are environmentally responsible and promote catchment health. It wants to reinforce the reputation & image that portrays dairying as an attractive industry to have within a catchment. By the same taken, GeoCatch is committed to assisting farmers reach their full potential in the business of landcare and catchment management.

Methods

DairyCatch has successfully brought together key stakeholders to facilitate the implementation of sustainable farm practices. The programs’s Reference Group acts as its steering committee. It is chaired by Western Dairy and includes the WA Farmers Federation, GeoCatch, the South West Catchment Council, DA, DAWA, DoE, the Water Corporation, Harvey Water and the Dairy Product Manufacturers Association.

DairyCatch has targeted the issues of effluent management (EM), nutrient management (NM) and water use efficiency (WUE), recognised as having the greatest short-term impact on the sustainability of dairying in WA. DairyCatch has five modular components that operate concurrently and complementarily (Figure 1). This innovative mix of activities is designed to encourage adoption of NRM principles based on profitable and environmentally-friendly practices that satisfy community expectations. DairyCatch activities are coordinated by GeoCatch.

Figure 1. DairyCatch program design for accelerated change.

Planning Support & Implementation Grants Scheme

Under the scheme, dairy farmers are eligible to receive heavily-subsidised expert advice and up to $7,000 in matching funds to implement EM plans. Irrigators can receive training in WUE through the allied WaterWise program and up to $7,000 in matching funds to implement efficient water management. NM technical support and training provides a tangible link to productivity, fertiliser application and their impact on nutrients budgets that relate directly a producer’s capacity to manage business risk. Five hundred dollars is available to offset the cost of soil testing and the development of a customised nutrient management plan. Since December 2003, a large proportion of dairy farmers have participated in the grants scheme and this has undoubtedly made a significant difference to the risk and extent of degradation of our natural resources (Image 1).

Monitor Farm Network & Catchment Monitoring

Four strategically-located Monitor Farms have been set up by DAWA scientists to trial environmental BMP and demonstrate the impacts of managing our natural resources correctly to reduce the risk harming surface or groundwater quality. These farms have also been used to host discussion forums and training (Image 2). Simple management modifications or BMP implementation are being targeted to the locations of greatest impact. Sophisticated equipment has been installed on the Hanks farm (Harvey), MacDonald farm (Jindong), Bettink farm (Northcliffe) and Lindberg farm (Denbarker) to monitor changes in natural resources condition, primarily water quality and other farm health indicators.

Water flows are monitored using appropriate discharge measurement structures, data loggers and water height probes. Where necessary, volumes of effluent are estimated based on pump times and output. Sampling is conducted daily using automatic samplers for small catchment areas and weekly for more regular flowing watercourses (Image 3). This is being supplemented with information from larger downstream watercourses sampled weekly or fortnightly to estimate contributions to downstream impacted sites. Nitrogen and phosphorus levels are being assessed as well as physio-chemical parameters and occasional sampling for microbial contaminants. This information is being used to forecast medium and long term changes attributed to BMP implementation and will be related back to data regularly collected by the DoE at the catchment level. Detailed soil/nutrient surveys have enabled us to map nutrient distributions throughout the properties and identify locations of high nutrient flux. Nutrient inputs and outputs within each farm system are being audited for nutrient budgeting purposes. Preliminary analyses of first year results indicate the BMPs are having a positive effect on the quality of water leaving the property.

Benefit to Cost Analysis based on Case Studies

Information from the Monitor Farms and others involved in the grants scheme will contribute to our understanding of the tangible benefits of adopting best practice. A number of these will serve as case studies for financial analyses (Image 4).

Best Management Practice Documentation

Documentation of Best Management Practice (BPM) is a key output of DairyCatch and will provide the Dairy Industry with the credentials of a responsible environmental manager and community member. Western Dairy also sees the adoption of environmental BMPs as a step towards self-regulation in the face of calls for greater licensing and regulation.

DAWA is documenting the BMP in accordance with principles developed by DA. Relevant methodology and technical data sources include:

• BMP developed as part of the Busselton Environmental Improvement Initiative
• BMPs uncovered in the coarse of a comprehensive literature review
• water quality and other data currently held by DAWA, DoE and the Water Corporation
• maintaining an awareness of BMP performance on those farms engaged in the planning and implementation grants scheme, catchment tours and practical assessments on the project’s Monitor Farms
• expert opinion based on direct field observation and decades of experience
• farmer involvement and feedback

The BMP development process was initiated with an objective assessment of the environmental risks posed by current dairy farming systems. This assessment involved the analyses of the physical environment in which dairy farming systems were situated and the principles underpinning practices within those farming systems. The results were used to identify areas of environmental sensitivity and those farm practices that posed the greatest environmental threat.

A workshop aimed at seeking reference group agreement on which issues should be progressed as dairy best practices for natural resource management was held in Bunbury in August 2004. Twelve main areas were identified and drafting is well underway. Once completed, these will be made available though the internet to support policy, training and extension programs related to environmental management at the regional, state and national levels. The BMPs will be updated on a regular basis as new information becomes available and this will result in similar updates in all related dairy industry documents and programs which contain the technical information. This will be made possible through the program’s alignment to several other current initiatives at the regional, state and national levels (Figure 2).

Figure 2. Regional, state and national programs aligned to DairyCatch.

Conclusion

The DairyCatch experience has led to over nine million dollars of new NRM-related research funding being invested across the southwest. The program was recently subjected to an independent review and found it to be one of the most successful programs of its kind in the country. In some states, environmental extension within the dairy industry is largely reactive. When environmental agencies are alerted to problems on a dairy farm, agricultural agencies are requested to offer extension. In some states the relationship between environmental regulators and farmers is openly hostile. DairyCatch’s successful partnership approach to environmental management is far more appealing to all concerned.

The project has selected as a finalist for this year’s Western Australian Landcare Natural Resource Management Community Award. Results will be announced on 5 October 2005.