Nutrient budgeting as an approach to improving nutrient management on Australian dairy farms
C. J. P. Gourley A E , J. M. Powell B , W. J. Dougherty C and D. M. Weaver DA Department of Primary Industries, Ellinbank Centre, 1301 Hazeldean Road, Ellinbank, Vic. 3821, Australia.
B USDA Agricultural Research Service, US Dairy Forage Research Center, 1925 Linden Drive West, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706, USA.
C NSW Department of Primary Industries, Locked Bag 4, Richmond, NSW 2753, Australia.
D Department of Agriculture and Food, Western Australia, 444 Albany Highway, Albany, WA 6330, Australia.
E Corresponding author. Email: cameron.gourley@dpi.vic.gov.au
Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 47(9) 1064-1074 https://doi.org/10.1071/EA07017
Submitted: 27 January 2007 Accepted: 8 March 2007 Published: 6 August 2007
Abstract
Dairy farming in Australia continues to intensify. Increased stocking rates have resulted in increased milk production per ha, but have also required greater inputs of purchased feed and fertiliser. The imbalance between nutrient inputs, primarily as feed and fertiliser, and nutrient outputs, in milk and livestock, has resulted in significant nutrient accumulation on dairy farms and, consequently, a greater risk of nutrient loss to the environment.
Nutrient budgeting is a technique used to quantify or predict nutrient deficits or surpluses, either at a whole-farm or field scale, in an attempt to improve nutrient use efficiency and reduce nutrient losses from agriculture. A broad range of nutrient budgeting approaches are used internationally, and depending on their purpose, they vary from the very simple to the very complex. Nutrient budgeting has been widely used to assist on-farm nutrient management decisions, in research to identify major nutrient pools, transformations and losses, to enable farmers to access cost-sharing support from governments, and in some countries as a major regulatory tool.
The changing nature of Australian dairy operations, the increasing societal pressure on the farming community to reduce nutrient losses to water and air, and the need to provide evidence that farm practices are meeting environmental standards, justifies the need for improved nutrient management practices on Australian dairy farms. This paper describes different types of nutrient budgeting approaches used internationally and assesses the benefits of developing a practical, scientifically rigorous and nationally standardised nutrient budgeting approach for the Australian dairy industry.
Additional keywords: nitrogen, phosphorus.
Acknowledgements
The authors wish to acknowledge financial support from Dairy Australia and The Babcock Institute for International Dairy Research and Development (CSREES USDA Special Grant 2005-34266-16416). Technical input was provided by many members of the Accounting for Nutrients on Australian Dairy Farms national project team. In particular we wish to thank Sharon Aarons, Lucy Burkitt and Ken Peverill for their helpful comments on the manuscript. The farm-scale nutrient distribution maps were prepared by Paul Durling, DPI Victoria.
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