Standard Operation Procedures

1. Check forecast.

2. Measure soil moisture for irrigation trigger. Trigger at 30% indicated on the HS2. Soil moisture should go no lower than 25% and no higher than 33%. Saturation is 46%.

3. Check soil temperature when considering irrigation in August and in May.

4. If above conditions allow then start irrigator.

5. Record irrigation online.

6. Check for leaks or other failures to report on Whatsapp and repair.

7. If discharging effluent through the irrigator it must be flushed with freshwater afterwards.

Incident Report Procedure

1. Irrigation is monitored between 5am and 5pm daily. CSA's are monitored for run off in passing.

2. When a leak, run off or ponding is discovered shut water off to leaking line.

3. Notify management and source resources needed such as parts, digger etc.

4. Repair, pressure test and continue to monitor before backfilling.

5. Report on maintenance Whatsapp.

Irrigation Water Optimisation

Blair and Kris operate the irrigation on the run-offs and oversee the contract milker's operation of the irrigation on the dairies.

Bucket tests have been done on effluent pivots at Awamoko and Marchwood to test uniformity and depth. Other irrigators are tested by directly measuring soil moisture before and after passing to measure application depth at given settings but uniformity is known to be an issue on the old pivots. To mitigate the effects of wear on the older pivots on Marchwood they have been repiped.

New fixed grid was rain gauge tested. Innovative designs incorporate pop up sprinklers and schedules are actively managed day-to-day using a portable transmitter.

Irrigation Scheduling

Irrigation applications are managed only by trained staff and are recorded online. Water is managed in blocks and there is no irrigation scheduled within the two days before grazing to minimise soil damage from mud and pugging.

K Line run off is a major risk to be avoided by scheduling irrigation correctly, pulling across slopes where safe (not up and down), and maintaining the lines. K Line placement is also critical to avoid run off. Avoid overlapping with previously irrigated areas and offset each placement to interlock the circles from the previous application. Turn off or block sprinklers in low or wet points along the line where it is known that there can be run off - irrigate them every second time since they are wet anyway.

There is a weather station being installed at the house for rainfall recording.

A calibrated handheld probe is used to measure soil moisture before irrigation is started (or restarted after rain) to verify the soil moisture deficit against the application rate of each irrigator.

The Campbell Scientific HS2 is calibrated for Ngapara Silt Loam which is the dominant soil type on Marchwood, Kowhai, Strachans, Brookhaven and Awamoko.

Marchwood S Map
Awamoko S Map
Airedale S Map
Brookhaven S Map

Ngapara soil has 58mm Profile Available Water to 30cm. For a pasture rooting depth of 300mm the Readily Available Water (R.A.W.) is 29mm.

Most of this soil is irrigated by pivot and fixed grid which applies 4mm to 10mm and allows plenty of flexibility within the 29mm R.A.W. which can also accommodate K-Line.

The Hydrosense II soil moisture meter reads 45% Volumetric Water Content in saturated soil and 14% in soil with wilting grass.

For Ngapara’s 58mm PAW the readily available water on the Hydrosense II is in the range of 30%-45%, but with the upper part of that range being above field capacity we don’t irrigate unless we get down to 30%.

Maintenance

Pre-season checks are carried out before starting up for the first time each season, and then irrigation is checked daily with any faults reported to the farm owner, the water turned off to that leak, and the fault repaired.

Maintenance is carried out in-house and recorded on Whatsapp as part of daily operations. 

Fixed Grid is monitored for performance and faults are indicated by cloud software.

Soils and Nutrients

Pugging minimisation is achieved by putting cows on higher and drier areas during wet weather.

Run out grass is cropped and then renewed with minimum fallow periods. 

Cultivation is minimum till where possible.

Soil testing at Awamoko and Marchwood informs agronomist recommendations for crops. The newer properties will be incorporated into this regime.

Nitrogen

Fertiliser applications are recorded and N per hectare reported to ORC with maps. Fertiliser is now self spread using a Tow n Fert with spreading rates monitored at between 70kg and 100kg per application with more on maize crops. 

Fertiliser application records. 

ORC Reports
Awamoko
Marchwood

Ballance annual Fertiliser report.

Overseer has not been updated in recent years because the only big changes have been to improve the nutrient loss by installing fixed grid and pivots to replace K Lines.

Fertiliser is not spread on hot or windy days, or when rain is forecast. No fertiliser is spread during June or July except chicken manure, nor on compacted or saturated soils.

No fertiliser is stored.

Higher rate irrigation systems associated with higher nutrient loss are being replaced with low rate systems.

Phosphate

On Marchwood and Awamoko each farm has a single point where any run off will flow to. These points have detention dams to slow the flow and minimise loss of sediment. There are detention dams on Airedale and Brookhaven also.

Olsen P levels are maintained at optimum levels.

Effluent

Refer to the ORC compliant Effluent Management Plan. Brookhaven is still operated under the existing consent with a similar Effluent Management Plan.

Storage Permitted Activity documents.

Winter Grazing

Refer to Winter Grazing Plan and consent.

Critical Source Areas and Point Source Areas

Buffers and sediment traps are used to minimise nutrient loss with sediment.

Farm tracks are cambered and maintained annually.

Water tables have cut-outs to spill water onto paddocks.

Gateways and troughs are maintained with gravel.

Weather forecasts are checked before cultivating.

Halter is allowing better control of grazing management which assists in excluding stock from waterways and CSA's. It also allows easy back fencing.

Silage stacks, bale parks, cattle yards and offal pits are located in areas that are least likely to lose accumulated nutrients to water.

Waste Management

Dead stock is composted:

• a minimum of 100m from any wells that supply water for domestic drinking or livestock

• a minimum of 50m from any waterway, including lakes, streams, rivers, wetlands and groundwater

• a minimum of 50m from the closest property boundary

• in an area free from ponding, flooding, or erosion

• away from any areas used for offal pits within the past five years

• away from any areas of cultural, historical, or conservation significance

Farm rubbish pits are constructed well above the water table and where there is no risk of contaminants entering water. 

• Household rubbish is not allowed in the farm pit.

• Carcasses are not disposed of in the rubbish pit.

  • Only steel unsuitable for collection, concrete, other clean fill and stone is disposed of in the pit if it can't be repurposed as fill for developments on farm.

  • Tanalised timber, chemical containers and other plastic is not burned.

  • Oil is captured and disposed of at a transfer station.

  • Non-burnable rubbish is collected by a wheelie bin service.

  • Sharps are disposed of via sharps bin at the shed which is taken to the vets.

  • Chemical containers are collected by AgRecovery. Chemical purchases are kept to a minimum and contractors bring their own chemical where possible so they can take left overs to their next job which avoids the need to store them on farm. New government recycling scheme is under consideration.

Waterbody Management 

All waterbodies are fenced off with crossing culverted. In accordance with Stock Exclusion regulations. Netting fencing and deer fencing is now being used to protect waterways instead of electric fences which are prone to shorting when grass in retired land gets long.

Buffers of rank grass or bush are maintained to minimise sediment loss to water. Some areas are being retired. A riparian planting program is under way.

Water Health Monitoring is undertaken.

Non-irrigation Water Efficiency

Stockwater is reticulated. All non-irrigation NOIC water is metered and troughs are maintained.

Greenhouse Gas Reduction Plan

• Emissions profile is calculated annually through Fonterra Farm Insights Report.

• Existing vegetation is enhanced and protected.

• Further planting occurs as an ongoing project. 

• Carbon loss is mitigated from bare soil by planting cover crops.

• Soil carbon is increased by targeting areas of low organic matter with effluent applications.

• N fertiliser is capped at 190kgN annually.

• Watering is timed for as soon as possible after N applications to minimise volatisation.

• Fuel efficient vehicles are used in preference to less efficient vehicles, and conversion from K-Line to fixed grid reduces fuel use as there is less quad bike running.

• GPS guidance is used on tractors to minimise overlap and therefore increase fuel efficiency per hectare.

• Unnecessary transport between farm, suppliers and town is minimised by good communication when supplies are needed. 

• Back loads are utilised on transport companies where possible.

• Freight sharing with other farms is used where possible.

• Local transport companies are used preferentially to minimise empty legs.

Biodiversity

• Some of the terrestrial biodiversity known to inhabit the farm:

  • Fan Tails

  • Wax Eyes

  • Herons

  • Bell Bird

  • Little Owl

  • Pied Stilt

  • Pied Oyster Catcher

  • Plovers

  • Tui

  • Kingfishers

  • Quail

  • Pheasants

• An area of native bush is retired in the Awamoko gully to allow regeneration.

• Healthy stands of kowhai grow on Awamoko which is a seed source.

• Native plantings of flax, toi toi, tussocks, pittosporums and other species is ongoing.

• Exotic pines and willows have been removed to remove excessive shade, water extraction, and possum habitat.

• Gullies are grazed to control fire risk to native vegetation.

• Stock are excluded from young plantings and weed control is undertaken to maximise survival rates.

• Pests are managed:

  • Pests are managed by shooting rabbits, hares, possums, wild cats, pigeons and ducks.

  • Possums are trapped.

  • Rats and mice are poisoned.

  • Insecticide use is avoided unless absolutely necessary.

• Besides crop preparation there is minimal herbicide use:

  • Thistles and stinging nettles are controlled by spraying or grubbing, and the tanker track and irrigation boxes are also sprayed.

  • Docks are sprayed only if necessary to keep under control.