Picture: UTAS/Peter W Allen
A national first of it’s kind dairy research trial is about to start at the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture’s dairy research facility at Elliott.
Researchers will be aiming to find practical ways to reduce the amount of nitrogen, mainly in fertilisers, used on dairy farms, without negatively impacting on milk production.
Four one hectare mini-farms, or farmlets, have been established at Elliott, with four separate dairy herds to be managed over three grazing seasons on different pasture compositions and varying types of pasture species and levels of nitrogen input ranging from 300kg to no application.
Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture director Professor Michael Rose says there’s a real need for greater efficiency in the use of nitrogen fertiliser.
