Feeding the world’s growing population
New Zealand’s reputation as a quality food producer is growing.
The Fertiliser Association of New Zealand promotes and encourages responsible and scientifically-based nutrient management.
Through a comprehensive research programme -- Forages for Reduced Nitrate Leaching (FRNL) -- OverseerFM has been updated to include the diuretic response in animals as a result of consuming plantain.
Plantain varieties have been used on New Zealand farms for some time, with positive effects on milk production and in reducing nitrate leaching. When plantain is entered as a part of a pasture mix in OverseerFM the model will derive the proportion of the diet plantain makes up for the enterprise and apply the response.
For the first time, farmers considering sowing plantain can compare estimates of their farm's nitrogen losses before investing time and money. Also, those who already use plantain can have it recognised in their farm plans. How large the effect is depends on the farm's situation. For example, scale of plantain use, amount of supplementary feed used, soil type and climate.
The Fertiliser Association of New Zealand and Dairy NZ funded development of the Nutrient Management Adviser Certification Programme (NMACP). This industry-wide certification aims to ensure that advisers have the learning, experience and capability to give sound nutrient advice.
9 December 2020
Aqualinc has been awarded the Irrigation New Zealand Innovation in Irrigation Award for 2020, in recognition of their work for the Fertiliser Association on N-Wise irrigation strategies.
25 November 2020
Two PhD students who have been supported by the Association, have published information on their research. The first measures the impact of phosphate fertiliser derived fluorine on soil microbiology and white clover. The second analyses the effect of soil cadmium on root organic acid secretion by forage crops.
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