Integrated Systems
During 2017/18 new work plans have been developed for both the sheep and beef and dairy components of the Integrated Farm Systems research programme out to mid 2019.
These have been co-developed with significant input from Beef + Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ) and DairyNZ respectively to ensure alignment with relevant industry investment, initiatives and extension programmes. Work is now underway on the research outlined below.
Principal Investigator
Dr Robyn Dynes, AgResearch
Current progress and research stories
Farm systems: Dairy
22/11/18
The dairy part of the programme involves the design of a cohesive and targeted communications and extension programme that provides the dairy industry with the information required to begin addressing its GHG emissions. The programme will build...
Farm systems: Sheep and Beef
22/11/18
The sheep and beef part of the programme is designed to provide new insights into GHG emissions from the sheep and beef sector by assessing the drivers of emissions for at least 100 real sheep and beef farms, representing all 8 B+LNZ farm classes,...
Efficient farming
28/09/17
Efficient farming Can reduce methane a bit But more must be done
Professor Louis Schipper talks about soil carbon
14/06/17
Louis Schipper talks to Bryan Crump on RNZ Nights about soil carbon. He talks about soil organic matter, soil density, nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, sulphur), land use and the ways we can store more carbon in soil to reduce the amount of carbon...
Sensitivity of the carbon footprint of New Zealand milk to greenhouse gas metrics
31/05/17
Reisinger, A., Ledgard, S.F., Falconer, S.J. 2017. Sensitivity of the carbon footprint of New Zealand milk to greenhouse gasmetrics. Ecological Indicators 81, 74–82. Highlights The carbon footprint of milk depends on the choice...
Greenhouse gas awareness of livestock's contribution to emissions rises among farmers
29/03/17
More farmers are aware of the impact of livestock on global warming, says an agricultural greenhouse research expert. New Zealand Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Research Centre director Dr Harry Clark said farmer awareness of their...
Feeding diets with fodder beet decreased methane emissions from dry and lactating dairy cows in grazing systems
24/02/17
Jonker Arjan, Scobie David, Dynes Robyn, Edwards Grant, De Klein Cecile, Hague Helen, McAuliffe Russel, Taylor Anna, Knight Trevor, Waghorn Garry (2017) Feeding diets with fodder beet decreased methane emissions from dry and lactating dairy cows...
NZAGRC welcomes PCE report on agricultural GHG mitigation
19/10/16
Wednesday, 19 October 2016 The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment’s report into greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture highlights the need for a suite of mitigation solutions rather than a single silver bullet....
Sheep & Beef work to identifying strategies to reduce GHGs
01/09/16
The NZAGRC team are working with two B+LNZ monitor farms. The farms now have substantial, robust data and baseline farm systems models which demonstrate the extent to which the key management decisions and efficiency drivers impact on current...
Collaborative work investigating GHG emissions from dairy farms
31/08/16
During 2015/16, the dairy component of the programme has continued progress towards understanding potential for practical mitigation options to result in lower GHG footprints for dairy farming. Methane and nitrous oxide measurements on dairy...
Reducing New Zealand's agricultural emissions: Efficiency in the whole farm system
15/09/15
This publication provides an overview of how the NZAGRC is working with other organisations to understand what efficiencies can be gained on New Zealand's sheep and beef farms.
Development of an improved representation of rumen digesta outflow in a mechanistic and dynamic model of a dairy cow, Molly
24/07/15
Pablo Gregorini, Pierre Beukes, Garry Waghorn, David Pacheco, Mark Hanigan, Development of an improved representation of rumen digesta outflow in a mechanistic and dynamic model of a dairy cow, Molly, Ecological Modelling, Volume 313, 2015, Pages...
1615 Robyn Dynes, Principal Scientist (AgResearch)
07/05/15
Following on from earlier conclusions that we shouldn't look at different aspects of a system in isolation, Robyn outlined her team's plans for studying the "business unit of New Zealand farming" - the whole farm. The...
Reducing the GHG footprint of farming: demonstrating the impacts of steps available now
12/03/15
A core part of the NZAGRC's research programme is to develop new tools, technologies and practices to mitigate agricultural greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. However, there are a number of steps that farmers can take right now to reduce their...
Estimating nitrous oxide emissions from a diary farm using a mechanistic, whole farm model and segregated emission factors for New Zealand
12/05/12
Vogeler, I., Beukes, P., Romera, A. & Cichota, R. (2012). Estimating nitrous oxide emissions from a diary farm using a mechanistic, whole farm model and segregated emission factors for New Zealand. Soil Research 50 (3) 188-194 Abstract...
