Zealand Hill Country Research Articles

Developing a Landscape Design Approach for the Sustainable Land Management of Hill Country Farms in New Zealand

Landscape modification associated with agricultural intensification has brought considerable challenges for the sustainable development of New Zealand hill country farms. Addressing these challenges requires an appropriate approach to support farmers and design a better landscape that can have beneficial environmental outcomes whilst ensuring continued profitability. In this paper we suggest using geodesign and theories drawn from landscape ecology to plan and design multifunctional landscapes that offer improved sustainability for hill country farm systems and landscapes in New Zealand. This approach suggests that better decisions can be made by considering the major landscape services that are, and could be, provided by the landscapes in which these farm systems are situated. These important services should be included in future landscape design of hill country by creating a patterning and configuration of landscape features that actively maintains or restores important landscape functioning. This will help to improve landscape health and promote landscape resilience in the face of climate change. Through illustrating the potential of this type of approach for wider adoption we believe that the proposed conceptual framework offers a valuable reference for sustainable farm system design that can make an important contribution to advancing environmental management globally as well as in New Zealand.

Modelling long-term changes in soil phosphorus and carbon under contrasting fertiliser and grazing management in New Zealand hill country

Soil carbon (C) stocks under permanent New Zealand pastures vary with slope and aspect due to differences in primary production, animal behaviour and nutrient return. An existing nutrient transfer model was extended using a web-based, general-purpose modelling tool to simulate long-term changes in soil phosphorus (P) and C in hill country under contrasting fertiliser and sheep stocking regimes. Three self-contained farmlets were examined: no P applied; 125 kg single superphosphate (SSP)/ha/year; and 375 kg SSP/ha/year, since 1980. The refined spatial model was able to simulate P and C distribution with varying slopes and aspects. For example, the mean annual changes in soil P and C were greater on low slopes and eastern aspects than on the other two slope and aspect positions, consistent with observed changes in these nutrients. However, the model overestimated changes in soil C, which highlighted both gaps in current knowledge and key factors influencing change in soil C stocks. Understanding the spatial patterns of soil C across the landscape will be critical in the design of soil C monitoring regimes, should soil C stocks be considered at a national level as a sink or source of CO2 emissions.

The economic value of replacement breeding ewes attaining puberty within their first year of life on New Zealand sheep farms

The economic value of increasing the reproductive performance of a breeding-ewe flock through selecting replacement ewes that attain puberty (AP) in their first year of life was quantified using bio-economic farm system modelling. In all of the scenarios modelled, the breeding-ewes were first presented for mating as yearlings (18–19 months of age) to enable them to start lambing at 2 years of age. For a New Zealand hill country sheep farm initially weaning 1.4 lambs per ewe mated, farm profit was improved by 6% when the percentage of breeding ewes that attained puberty in their first year of life was increased from 25% to 100%. However, if current sheep-industry target liveweight recommendations for rearing ewe lambs are met then between 70 and 95% of breeding-ewes should already attain puberty in their first year of life, and under these circumstances any further gains in farm profitability through specifically using this selection policy will be small (<2%). Countering the reproductive performance benefits of this selection policy was: (1) ewe liveweight increased with a higher AP%, which increased the individual feed requirements of the ewes; and (2) ewe mortality increased as multiple-bearing ewes became increasingly prevalent. The economic cost of using additional resources to further increase the farm's feed supply outweighed the benefits, resulting in the need to reduce farm breeding ewe numbers. The methodology and farm system model used for this study can be readily applied to other sheep farming systems. This can identify components of the reproductive process which should be targeted for further research to maximise on-farm benefits, and provide information on how a farm system will need to change for this to be successfully achieved.

Auditing on-farm soil carbon stocks using downscaled national mapping products: Examples from Australia and New Zealand

A method has been tested to audit soil carbon stocks at the farm-scale. This is needed for emission trading schemes and for tracking sustainability of the soil resource through time. The method begins with baseline maps derived from national models which are then disaggregated with fine scaled environmental data via statistical modeling; before optimally stratifying to guide soil sampling positions. Field sampling provides a statistically valid estimate of soil carbon stocks, and the method is repeated through time to monitor any changes in stocks. Case studies are presented from Australia and New Zealand.While spatial downscaling is useful for generating soil maps relevant to the farm scale, the optimal stratification of these maps for guiding soil sampling for baseline soil carbon auditing purposes should not be recommended if the national scale mapping is thought to be unreliable. Because of unresolvable differences between spatial scales associated with bias and incorrect specification of uncertainties, results from Australia revealed stratified simple random sampling was not as efficient when compared to the less costly simple random sampling. Conversely, results from New Zealand do show that stratified simple random sampling to be more efficient than simple random sampling.From soil sampling, clear differences in carbon stocks to 30 cm were observed when comparing the stocks measured at sites from both countries. In New Zealand, soil carbon stocks were estimated to be as high as 101 t/ha for the top 30 cm of soil. For the Australian sites which were all situated in the Hunter Valley region of NSW, the highest measured soil carbon stocks were 25 t/ha for the top 30 cm. The largest soil carbon variance was observed at the New Zealand hill country farm, where the landscape consists of alluvial terraces, complex broken valley sides and a summit plateau mantled with volcanic ash. In Australia, the presence of subsoil pedogenic carbonate (marl) contributed to high variance estimates relative to the other sites.

Repellency-induced runoff from New Zealand hill country under pasture: A plot study

Soil water repellency is a common phenomenon which develops when surface soils become dry in summer and autumn. It is claimed that repellency is likely to result in a lower infiltration rate and a concomitant increase in surface runoff, particularly on slopes. This study quantifies the effect of water repellency on runoff from a series of small plots on a range of slopes (20° and 30°) and aspects (N, S and E) in a hilly landscape in the south-east of the North Island of New Zealand. The plots (1 m wide and 2 m long) were set up to capture runoff via a slotted PVC pipe and measure it using tipping bucket apparatus: at each of the slope/aspect locations there were duplicate plots. A meteorological station was also established at the site along with TDR probes to measure soil moisture down to 300 mm depth. When moist, the soil at the site had a very high infiltrability (>1.5 mm/min). On nine occasions, runoff was measured (ranging from 1 to 59% of rainfall) when the soil surface was dry and rainfall was intense (greater than 0.1 mm/min). However, during the two-year study period, this repellency-induced runoff equated to only 5% of the total rainfall. Furthermore, the infiltration rate of initially dry, repellent soil (ranging from 0.2 to 0.6 mm/min) partly recovered over a ten-minute period (0.6–1.0 mm/min) and, with sufficient rainfall, repellency completely disappeared within two days. The transitory nature of water repellency was confirmed in an experiment on large soil slabs conducted in the laboratory where repellency-induced runoff was observed to largely disappear over a period of 30 min. Overall, it is concluded that soil water repellency does not play a major role in the soil water balance of the hill country at the study site.

Impact of introducing a herb pasture area into a New Zealand sheep and beef hill country farm system: a modeling analysis

New Zealand is well known for export of meat and dairy products from low cost pastoral systems. These farm systems are continually evolving for increased efficiency, in part through the use of metabolic energy modeling tools by farmers and farm consultants to explore alternative farm system configurations and identify new efficiencies. One recent innovation is the introduction of a herb pasture area, such as plantain. We used metabolic energy modeling to quantify seasonal feed flows in two successive years in a New Zealand hill country farm system, and to analyze the impact of the introduction of an area of plantain. Models employed were a self-built Microsoft Excel spreadsheet and a commercial New Zealand farm systems modeling package, FARMAX. Herbage production, animal performance and financial results for a base farm scenario created from the average of survey data for hill farms in the southern North Island, and the same farm with 10% and 20% of the area in plantain for the years 2010–2011 and 2011–2012 were modeled. The self-built model performed similarly to the commercial model. The system configuration of the base farm stockpiles surplus autumn feed for release to animals in winter and also incorporates flexibility that confers resilience to interannual weather variation through varying dates animals are purchased or sold. The introduction of an area of plantain was predicted to increase herbage production, animal performance and financial returns. The predicted benefit was higher for the year 2010–2011 where a drought occurred in summer than for the following year with higher summer rainfall. This demonstrates the profitability of introducing a plantain area to New Zealand hill farm systems, and suggests plantain will assist to mitigate adverse effects of warmer and drier summer conditions associated with current climate change trends.

Geostatistical Determination of Soil Noise and Soil Phosphorus Spatial Variability

This research studies the effect of stratifying soil samples to try and find a suitable depth to establish a geospatial relationship for a practical soil sampling grid in New Zealand hill country. Cores were collected from 200 predetermined sites in grids at two trial sites at “Patitapu” hill country farm in the Wairarapa, New Zealand. Trial 1 was a 200 m × 100 m grid located in a gently undulating paddock. Trial 2 was a 220 m × 80 m grid located on a moderately sloped paddock. Each grid had cores taken at intervals of 5 m, 10 m, or 20 m. Core sites were mapped out prior to going into the field; these points were found using a Leica Geo Systems GS15 (real time kinematic GPS) and marked with pigtail pegs and spray-paint on the ground. Cores were taken using a 50 mm-diameter soil core sampler. Cores were cut into three sections according to depth: A—0–30 mm, B—30–75 mm, and C—75–150 mm. Olsen P lab results were obtained for half of the total 1400 samples due to financial constraints. The results indicate that there was a significant decrease in variability from Section A to Section B for both trials. Section B and C for Trial 1 had similar variability, whereas there was another significant drop in variability from Section B to C in Trial 2. Measuring samples below the top 3 cm appeared to effectively reduce noise when sampled from 3 to 15 cm. However, measuring from 7.5 cm to 15 cm on the slope in Trial 2 reduced variability so much that all results were almost identical, which may mean that there is no measurable representation of plant available P. The reduction in noise by removing the top 3 cm of soil samples is significant for improving current soil nutrient testing methods by allowing better geospatial predictions for whole paddock soil nutrient variability mapping.

Nitrogen fertiliser application rates and nitrogen leaching in intensively managed sheep grazed hill country pastures in New Zealand

ABSTRACTEffects of rates of nitrogen (N) fertiliser application on mineral N leaching from grazed New Zealand hill country were investigated. Paddocks of 12–25° slope received annual N inputs of 0, 100, 200, 300, 400, 500 or 750 kg N ha−1 and were rotationally grazed by non-lactating ewes, stocking rate being increased to utilise extra pasture production generated from N application. Mineral N leaching was measured using in situ minilysimeters (150 mm diameter and 300 mm depth) with leachate collected at monthly intervals or after each accumulation of 100 mm rain. Average annual net herbage accumulation ranged from 11 to 16 t dry matter ha−1 for the N treatments. Total mineral N leaching increased linearly with fertiliser N application rate. Potential increases in N leaching for commonly used fertiliser N regimes were estimated to be 11% (for 20 kg N ha−1) to 29% (for 50 kg N ha−1 application rate).

Information required from research programmes when introducing legume forage systems into challenging environments

Abstract The use of legumes to increase animal performance is well known, but why are sheep and beef farmers not using a legume forage system in New Zealand hill country, and what information do they need before introducing a legume forage system? A co-innovation process was started to explore the challenges sheep and beef farmers face introducing a legume forage system into hill country and their information needs. The first step in this process, reported here, was to run eight workshops throughout New Zealand which 105 farmers and agribusiness representatives attended. Results showed that getting the right information from trusted sources was the highest priority for farmers looking to introduce a legume forage system. Information provided by the science community and industry needs to be region specific as the range of knowledge around legume species differs across regions. Some of the information required by farmers is already well documented, but may not be in the hands of the right people. Keywords: challenges, forage, farm system, information requirements, knowledge, legumes, sheep and beef farmers

Helicropping - early adopters' experiences

Abstract Aerial establishment of pasture and crops in hill country in New Zealand has received mixed publicity. Popularly referred to as 'spray and pray' this detracts from the success some practitioners have achieved with 'helicropping', a highly structured process that has the potential to markedly change hill country farming. Four farmers with an average of 4.5 years (range 2 to 7 years) of helicropping in New Zealand hill country were interviewed using a semi-structured snowball technique. Cross-case analysis was used to analyse themes of learning experience of helicropping, crop establishment, utilisation and economics, and the management of potential risk of soil loss from hill country cropping and harvest. Generally, all aspects ranked highly in terms of success. However, there was a strong message that this was attributable to strictly following a prescribed process that reduced risks both to a profitable return and to soil conservation. Keywords: hill country, soil conservation, pasture renovation, no tillage

Farming systems research: purpose, history and impact in New Zealand hill country

A review of the literature accessed 234 papers that referenced farm or farming systems research in New Zealand hill country. These were categorised into resource allocation/productivity, modelling, farm studies and sociology. Sociology was further categorised into social, cultural, resilience, policy and regulation, and system behaviour and change. Farming systems research developed over the 5 decades studied from 9 papers in 1960-1975, to a peak of 60 papers during the 1986-1995 decade. The number of papers accessed during the latest decade, 2006-2015, was 57. The focus of research has changed significantly from an initial emphasis on biophysical processes and productivity, peaking in the 1976-1985 decade and then tapering off. This provided data for the development of models that could generate many more comparisons at lower cost. Modelling of the biophysical farm and economic outcomes has been steady through the decades from 1986 to present. The impacts of policy and regulation have featured strongly in the 1986-1995 decade after agricultural deregulation, and again in the 2006-2015 decade as consumer and societal concerns about the environment have emerged. Resilience of the farming system, encompassing production, economic, social and environmental trade-offs, has emerged as a topic being most prevalent in the most recent decade from 2006-2015. The discipline of farm systems research has also matured over this time as a greater range of research techniques, over a wider range of subject matter have been applied. An evolution of the discipline has also seen the integration of the principles of complex adaptive systems into the work. Keywords: cultural, economic, environmental, farm systems, modelling, policy, production, regulation, resilience, social

Sustaining the productivity of New Zealand's hill country - A land manager's view

Key message summary • Farm plans have been an integral part of assisting landowners to manage eroding hill country in the Wellington region • Land Use Capability (LUC) mapping is a key tool in prioritising investment in erosion control and land development programmes • Improving pasture production and management on LUC Class 6 land provides a great opportunity in sustain the productivity of our hill country • Alternatives land uses such as forestry and manuka can provide increased returns from marginal pasture land.

Diversity within subterranean clover and biserrula for persistence traits with potential use in New Zealand hill country

As part of an investigation into the potential of alternative forage species and/or germplasm in New Zealand's hill country and the traits required for their success, two F2 populations, their original parents, and 34 cultivars of subterranean clover (Trifolium subterranean) were evaluated for hardseededness in Australia. The 34 cultivars were also screened for burr burial strength and flowering time. Microsatellite markers were also used to investigate their association with these traits. The polygenic nature of hardseededness was confirmed and markers associated with this trait were detected and traits for New Zealand's hill country were identified. Additionally, a core collection of 30 (two cultivars and 28 wild) biserrula (Biserrula pelecinus) accessions was screened for flowering time, growth habit and leaflet size. Also, a subset of five accessions of biserrula exhibited traits that are desirable for hill country, namely, mid-late flowering and adaptation to lowmedium rainfall. Keywords: biserrula, flowering time, hardseededness, hill country, subterranean clover

An assessment of current fertiliser practices in New Zealand hill country

In the last decade major reviews on the phosphorus (P), potassium (K) and sulphur (S) nutrient requirements of clover-based pastures in New Zealand have been completed. This has resulted in adjustments to the P, K and S pasture production functions and some changes to the critical levels for soil tests, and modifications to our interpretation of some soil tests such as Organic S and Reserve K. Applying this new information to New Zealand's hill country pastoral soils, using case studies, suggests that there is considerable unrealized potential to increase productivity. Keywords: critical levels, economics, fertiliser, pasture, phosphorus, potassium, soil fertility, soil tests, sulphur

Over the fence: understanding what people do and how they might change

Landholders in New Zealand hill country are being challenged in the future to provide the resource for increasing agricultural productivity while balancing social and environmental demands. This will lead to an increasingly complex ecosystem which challenges simple approaches to achieving change on farm. This paper discusses principles such as degree of complexity, systems thinking in farming systems, knowledge, and barriers to decision making and adoption in relation to agricultural production systems. These concepts are often little considered or understood where there is an expectation of uptake of new technologies or an increased rate of practice change. Better understanding and consideration of these concepts could help in the development and design of more effective extension programmes. Keywords: behaviour change, adoption, extension, farming systems, complexity, barriers, knowledge

The development of variable rate application of fertiliser from a fixed wing topdressing aircraft

New Zealand hill country has a regular requirement for application of phosphorus (P) and sulphur (S) fertilisers usually as superphosphate. There are different requirements for fertiliser within farms with flatter slopes carrying more stock and needing a greater rate than steeper slopes which carry less stock. For the last 70 years aerial application of fertiliser has been mainly uniform with one rate applied over the whole area of a block or farm. As part of Clearview Innovations (PGP), Ballance Agri-Nutrients and Ministry of Primary Industry have developed a system for fixed wing aircraft to apply variable rates of fertiliser during flights across contrasting topographic areas. This system comprises a hydraulically-operated hopper gate linked to a hopper gate controller which in turn is linked to a computer and GPS guidance system, into which a fertiliser application prescription map is inputted. The prescription map uses GPS points to delineate the boundaries between areas that are flat (0-12 degrees), easy (13-25 degrees) or steep (&gt;25 degrees), plus non-productive areas and exclusion zones. Calculated net benefits for the same amount of product applied using either variable rate (VR) or uniform rate application show an advantage of $36 to $166/ha/yr for VR rate application for low and medium fertility farms. Keywords: hill country, phosphorus fertilisers, variable rate, uniform rate

Why a hill country symposium?

Introduction When I was young the hill country was where the store lambs came from. But with the flatter and generally better land being lost to the likes of urban and dairy farming expansion, New Zealand's hill country is now the key breeding platform, and is increasingly being required to finish stock for the red meat sector - a sector that generates nearly $8 billion/year in export earnings for the country. Hill country farmers, their service providers and local communities face notable challenges including continuing pressure on profitability, rural depopulation and climate change, as well as environmental pressure around the 'right to farm' from the greater New Zealand population. However, there are also great success stories in terms of the improvements in productivity and environmental stewardship that have been made in the hill country. The Hill Country Symposium (HCS) will update relevant research and present some of the industry's successes. However, our main aim is as a group to answer two questions: What does a profitable and resilient future for our hill country farming look like? What do we, collectively

Lorne Peak Station - achieving sustainable profitability in challenging Southland hill country

Lorne Peak Station, near Garston in Northern Southland is a 5650 ha station, which until recently, has been run as an extensive store sheep and beef property. Major constraints for this hill country property, like many others in the region, are long winters with occasional snowfall, low pasture growth rates, dry summers, unpredictable autumns and limited cash flow to develop and improve the land. The intensification of New Zealand's hill country farms is a critical aspect in ensuring financial viability. Since 2009, Lorne Peak has undergone a rigorous intensification program, initially aided by income produced from wintering dairy cows on the property. With careful selection of crops and pastures, farm profitability has increased, through selection of different stock breeds/classes and high utilisation of feed supply over the year. FARMAX® modelling software has been used retrospectively to analyse these changes, and compare it with the current scenario. The analysis clearly shows that the use of lucerne for grazing, fodder beet for beef production, subdivision and increasing soil fertility have been real game changers for Lorne Peak. A 292% increase in farm profit before tax is testament to this achievement. However, an increase of 26% for total farm working expenses, highlights the need for investment to be planned to build resilience into the farming operation. Keywords: hill country, intensification, dryland, lucerne, fodder beet, sheep, beef, FARMAX®, profitability

Availability of seed for hill country adapted forage legumes

New Zealand hill and high country are marginal environments for perennial ryegrass and white clover. Other pasture species, particularly legumes, provide more productive and persistent options for the range of soil climate and topography found in these environments. On cultivatable hill country, lucerne (alfalfa) has been successfully introduced to dryland areas with imported seed increasing five-fold to 210 t per annum over the last decade. This has led to the first release of a New Zealand selected cultivar in 20 years. For subterranean clover reliance on hardseeded Australian cultivars that frequently fail to meet New Zealand biosecurity standards means seed supply is inconsistent. The potential exists to create a niche seed market through selection of locally adapted material grown for seed in New Zealand. Lotus pedunculatus is available commercially but seed often fails to meet certification standards and is predominantly used in forestry. Lotus corniculatus requires agronomic research to overcome some management constraints and the re-establishment of seed supply before it would be a viable option for drier hill country. Seed production for perennial lupins in New Zealand is predominantly for an export ornamental market, with some direct relationships with growers allowing onfarm use. Caucasian clover seed production has ceased in New Zealand and the demand for seed particularly from high country farmers is no longer met. The smallseeded annual balansa clover is being integrated into farm systems and its prolific seeding has enabled some on-farm production of seed for personal use. For it and arrowleaf and Persian clovers, imported cultivars are available and a local market is unlikely to thrive until agronomic and hard seed issues are addressed. Seed supply of forage legumes to satisfy demand for hill country is problematic and will require development of different models including grower co-ops, regional seed retailers, and on-farm production for niche markets. Keywords: alfalfa, Lolium perenne, Lupinus polyphyllus, Medicago sativa, perennial ryegrass, Sitona lepidus, Trifolium ambiguum, Trifolium michelianum, Trifolium repens, Trifolium resupinatum, Trifolium subterraneum, Trifolium tumens, Trifolium vesiculosum, white clover

Consumers, farmers and the future of New Zealand hill country farming

The future of hill country farmers depends on constructive engagements with international consumers and domestic values and politics. Antifragility, being at worst unharmed by or benefiting from stresses or shocks, involves both reducing system downside and maximising the upside potential. Antifragility is enhanced by farmers selecting partners with which they align in transparent relationships. Farmers should consider integration or collaboration rather than selfsufficiency. Maintaining an element of flexibility within the farm system is also essential. In addressing the market it is not appropriate to focus on the average consumer. New Zealand producers should target those who care about what is good for them with what is good for the world and good quality; listen to them and deliver what they want. Delivering on what is wanted requires farmers to "farm like they are watching you". They are. Farmers and companies need to be able to verify what they claim and celebrate an honest story. Keywords: antifragility, consumers, flexibility, honesty, quality, transparency Key messages • Establish aligned, transparent partnerships