

The NZAGRC’s former nitrous oxide and soil carbon work streams were combined into one programme this year. This ensures a strong overall framework, closer communication and full GHG analyses across the programme. The programme focusses on three key areas:
1. Identifying and prioritising plant traits for low GHG emissions;
2. Mitigation practices to maintain soil carbon and reduce nitrous oxide emissions at paddock scale; and
3. Defining the achievable soil carbon stabilisation capacity of New Zealand grassland soils.
24/07/19
At least 60% of New Zealand's high-producing grasslands - those on less than 20-degree slopes - have some potential to sequester carbon and help in the fight to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere. Dr Mike Beare of Plant & Food...
28/06/19
LEARN Research Aims to Give Farmers Options for GHG Reductions Visiting Brazilian research scientist Dr Adriano Nascente is currently working on a project to help give farmers options for management practices that will reduce nitrous oxide...
02/05/19
Plantain Study Holds Potential for Greenhouse Gas Mitigation Camilla has just finished her PhD project which studied nitrogen compounds and plant metabolites in cow urine and identified those which might minimise nitrous oxide emissions. In...
01/03/19
Funding Brings Clarity to Soil Carbon Research NZAGRC funding over the last decade has improved clarity about soil carbon research and provided a structure for building a knowledge base both in New Zealand and the international scientific...
18/02/19
William Targets Career in Scientific Research Support from the NZAGRC is helping William Talbot on his pathway to becoming a research scientist and continuing to help find ways of economically reducing the environmental impacts of farming....
11/02/19
Anne’s Fascination with Science Now Focusses on Nitrous Oxide (N2O) Fascination with the outdoors – a trait instilled by her grandfather – is still with Anne Wecking today, and is still driving her onwards in her work with soil...
29/01/19
Cecile’s Journey from the Sports Field to the Kiwi Farm Paddock Dr Cecile De Klein was captain of the Dutch women’s rugby team in the 1991 Women’s World Cup. Away from the sports field, her career path led her to become an...
22/11/18
An experiment was designed and conducted using a novel 13C stable isotope method to determine how the stabilisation capacity and saturation deficit of different soils affects their ability to store more carbon. Research was also completed...
22/11/18
Parallel work at a nearby farm calculated carbon balances for three years for a farm with very high feed imports (about 12 tonnes dry matter or 5.3 tonnes of carbon per hectare, per year). The majority of the imported feed was converted back to...
22/11/18
An animal feeding trial conducted in association with the Forages for Reduced Nitrate Leaching programme, investigating the ability of plantain to modify nitrogen processes in animals and soils, was a major focus this year. The aim was to assess...
22/11/18
The CenW model developed for Waikato farms was compared against three years of eddy-covariance data from an irrigated grazed pasture in the Canterbury region. CenW was used to compare three irrigation management scenarios: no irrigation (dairy...
22/11/18
An initial study to determine the impact of a novel inhibitor was conducted in 2017/18. After 36 days urine from treated animals had 50% lower nitrous oxide emissions than untreated animals. This work will be expanded in 2018/19.
01/11/18
Raised on a beef farm and then a kiwifruit orchard, Sam McNally enjoyed science right from primary school and had a couple of great teachers at Te Puke High School which enhanced his interest in science. “Having grown up on farm/orchard I...
08/07/18
Whitehead, D., Schipper, L.A., Pronger, J., Gabriel, Y.K. Moinet, Mudge, P.L., Pereira, R.C., Kirschbaum, M.U.F., McNally, S.R., Beare, M.H., Camps-Arbestain, M. 2018. Management practices to reduce losses or increase soil carbon stocks in...
04/07/18
Baldock, J. A., Beare, M. H., Curtin, D., & Hawke, B. (2018). Stocks, composition and vulnerability to loss of soil organic carbon predicted using mid-infrared spectroscopy. Soil Research, 56(5), 468-480. AbstractDeveloping a routine...
02/07/18
McNally, S., Beare, M., Curtin, D., Tregurtha, C., Qiu, W., Kelliher, F., & Baldock, J. (2018). Assessing the vulnerability of organic matter to C mineralisation in pasture and cropping soils of New Zealand. Soil Research, 56(5), 481-490....
21/06/18
Gardiner, C. A., Clough, T. J., Cameron, K. C., Di, H. J., Edwards, G. R., & de Klein, C. A. M. (2018). Assessing the impact of non-urea ruminant urine nitrogen compounds on urine patch nitrous oxide emissions. Journal of Environmental...
10/05/18
Shen, Q., Suarez-Abelenda, M., Camps-Arbestain, M., Calvelo Pereira, R., McNally, S. R., & Kelliher, F. M. (2018). An investigation of organic matter quality and quantity in acid soils as influenced by soil type and land use. Geoderma, 328,...
17/01/18
A short time-lapse video of maize growing and the measured cumulative CO2-C exchange from eddy covariance. Down is a loss and up is a gain. There are initial C losses before maize growth is established and then gains as the maize grows. The net C...
15/12/17
Congratulations to Nicolas Puche who has successfully defended his PhD at Massey University. Nicolas came to New Zealand in 2012 on a scholarship funded by the NZAGRC - his doctoral thesis, ‘Detailed temporal modelling of carbon and water...
12/12/17
Gardiner, C. A., Clough, T. J., Cameron, K. C., Di, H. J., Edwards, G. R., & de Klein, C. A. M. (2017). Potential inhibition of urine patch nitrous oxide emissions by Plantago lanceolata and its metabolite aucubin. [Article in Press]. New...
05/12/17
A modeling analysis of carbon and nitrogen (input, cycling and fate) in irrigated grassland in Canterbury showed reductions in soil carbon following irrigation, due to increasing nitrogen limitation. These two co-limiters of growth interact -...
05/12/17
A study has been completed into the potential of using mid-infrared spectroscopy/partial least squares regression (MIR/PLSR) analyses to provide accurate estimates of the content and composition of soil carbon. The MIR/PLSR measurements provided...
05/12/17
Converting a ryegrass/clover grassland to a sward with diverse species resulted in lower carbon losses than when regrassing with ryegrass/clover. Diverse swards also maintained the same level of dry matter production as the new ryegrass/clover...
05/10/17
McNally, S. R., Beare, M. H., Curtin, D., Meenken, E. D., Kelliher, F. M., Calvelo Pereira, R.,Baldock, J. (2017). Soil carbon sequestration potential of permanent pasture and continuous cropping soils in New Zealand. Global Change Biology,...
28/09/17
Paddock N2O Try Quantum Cascade Laser It’s a game changer
22/09/17
The opportunity to work with the Quantum Cascade Laser (QCL) made it an easy decision for German PhD student Anne Wecking to move to the other side of the world. “It’s a privilege to work with a piece of technology like this—the...
21/09/17
A modest-looking metal box sitting in a Waikato paddock may seem unassuming at first glance, but what’s on the inside has the potential to transform the way greenhouse gas emissions are measured. The box contains state-of-the art technology...
03/09/17
Spikey, a New Zealand innovation that is supported by the NZAGRC and the Global Research Alliance (GRA), has recently been awarded a prestigious environmental sustainability award by the professional body for engineers, IPENZ....
30/08/17
Luo, J., Balvert, S. F., Wise, B., Welten, B., Ledgard, S. F., de Klein, C. A. M, Lindsey, S., Judge, A. (2018). Using alternative forage species to reduce emissions of the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide from cattle urine deposited onto soil....
01/08/17
There is good evidence that biochar (organic matter carbonised under controlled conditions) represents a very stable form of carbon, so it could be used to store more carbon in soils. Research has indicated that specific biochars could also help...
26/06/17
T.J. van der Weerden, S. Laurenson, I. Vogeler, P.C. Beukes, S.M. Thomas, R.M. Rees, C.F.E. Topp, G. Lanigan, C.A.M. de Klein, Mitigating nitrous oxide and manure-derived methane emissions by removing cows in response to wet soil conditions,...
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...
25/05/17
Giltrap, D., S. Saggar, et al. (2017). "Modelling NH3 volatilisation within a urine patch using NZ-DNDC." Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems 108(3): 267-277. Abstract Urea concentrations in urine patches deposited during animal grazing can be...
19/05/17
Anthony J. Parsons, John H. M. Thornley, Susanne Rasmussen and Jacqueline S. Rowarth, 2016, Some clarification of the impacts of grassland intensification on food production, nitrogen release, greenhouse gas emissions and carbon sequestration:...
16/05/17
Cecile is an internationally recognised expert on nitrous oxide emissions from soils. Born and educated in The Netherlands, she came to New Zealand in 1995 following a postdoc in Cambridge, UK. As Principal Investigator of the NZAGRC she co-leads,...
11/05/17
At the recent NZ agricultural greenhous gas mitigation conference, Dr Cecile de Klein presented an overview of the latest progress with nitrous oxide technology developments. Read more about her presentation
03/04/17
Louis Schipper is a Professor at the University of Waikato who investigates soil biogeochemical processes at landscape scales and how they might be manipulated to achieve improved environmental performance while maintaining production. For the...
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...
06/02/17
S. Rutledge, A.M. Wall, P.L. Mudge, B. Troughton, D.I. Campbell, J. Pronger, C. Joshi, L.A. Schipper, The carbon balance of temperate grasslands part I: The impact of increased species diversity, Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, Volume...
05/02/17
Schipper, L. A., P. L. Mudge, et al. (2017). "A review of soil carbon change in New Zealand’s grazed grasslands." New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research 60(2): 93-118. AbstractSoil organic matter is a potential sink of atmospheric...
23/01/17
S. Rutledge, A.M. Wall, P.L. Mudge, B. Troughton, D.I. Campbell, J. Pronger, C. Joshi, L.A. Schipper, The carbon balance of temperate grasslands part II: The impact of pasture renewal via direct drilling, Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment,...
11/01/17
van der Weerden, T. J., T. M. Styles, et al. (2017). "Nitrous oxide emissions from cattle urine deposited onto soil supporting a winter forage kale crop." New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research 60(2): 119-130. AbstractWintering cows on...
22/12/16
The study site is the Massey University Tuapaka hill country farm. This 470-ha farm, 15 km NW of Palmerston North, consists of two distinctive management blocks – the terrace flats and the hill block. A legacy soil map was digitised and...
05/12/16
This publication provides an overview of how we can map the amount of carbon stored in New Zealand soils.
15/11/16
Report prepared for the New Zealand Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Research Centre August 2015 Read more
08/11/16
NOT LONGER AVAILABLE PhD in Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Grazed Pastures University of Waikato, New Zealand We have an opening for a PhD candidate to make measurements of nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide fluxes from grazed pastures...
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....
15/10/16
Kirschbaum, M. U. F., L. A. Schipper, et al. (2017). "The trade-offs between milk production and soil organic carbon storage in dairy systems under different management and environmental factors." Science of the Total Environment 577: 61-72....
31/08/16
Nitrification inhibitors slow the conversion of ammonium (NH4+), deposited into the soil in the form of urine, to nitrate (NO3), which leaches into waterways. Nitrous oxide (N2O) is released into the atmosphere as part of this process. DCD...
31/08/16
Agriculture produces greenhouse gas emissions in a number of ways: direct emissions by livestock, emissions from the production of livestock feed, energy use in fertiliser manufacture, farm operations such as milking, refrigeration and housing,...
01/08/16
J. Pronger, D.I. Campbell, M.J. Clearwater, S. Rutledge, A.M. Wall, L.A. Schipper, Low spatial and inter-annual variability of evaporation from a year-round intensively grazed temperate pasture system, Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment,...
20/07/16
Schon, N. L., A. D. Mackay, et al. (2016). "Establishment of Aporrectodea longa and measurement of dung carbon incorporation in soils under permanent pasture." European Journal of Soil Biology 75: 174-179. Earthworm populations often have a large...
01/07/16
Gardiner, C. A., T. J. Clough, et al. (2016). "Potential for forage diet manipulation in New Zealand pasture ecosystems to mitigate ruminant urine derived N2O emissions: a review." New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research 59(3): 301-317....
28/06/16
This report reviews the potential to use full inversion tillage (FIT) during pasture renewal to increase the soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks of New Zealand’s High Producing Grasslands. December 2015 Download this...
21/05/16
Di, H. J., Cameron, K. C., Podolyan, A., Edwards, G. R., de Klein, C. A. M., Dynes, R., & Woods, R. (2016). The potential of using alternative pastures, forage crops and gibberellic acid to mitigate nitrous oxide emissions. [Article]. Journal...
12/05/16
C.J. Hoogendoorn, J. Luo, C.M. Lloyd-West, B.P. Devantier, S.B. Lindsey, S. Sun, D. Pacheco, Y. Li, P.W. Theobald, A. Judge, Nitrous oxide emission factors for urine from sheep and cattle fed forage rape ( L.) or perennial ryegrass/white clover...
10/05/16
Gardiner, C. A., T. J. Clough, et al. (2016). "Potential for forage diet manipulation in New Zealand pasture ecosystems to mitigate ruminant urine derived N2O emissions: a review." New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research 59(3): 301-317....
24/03/16
Camilla Gardiner moved to Canterbury from the USA at the end of July 2015. Originally from Seattle, Camilla has had a passion for agriculture since high school. "I spent a term at a farm school in rural Vermont in my third year of high...
24/03/16
Providing funding to students and early career scientists to increase capability in the agricultural greenhouse gas emissions mitigation research area and boost international collaboration is a key activity for the NZAGRC. The NZAGRC nitrous...
21/03/16
Pastoral Robotics Ltd, founded by Aucklanders Geoff Bates and Bert Quin, has received a grant from the New Zealand Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Research Council (NZAGRC) to help optimisation and on-farm testing of its full-size ‘Spikey’...
15/02/16
Sparling, G. P., E. J. Chibnall, et al. (2016). "Estimates of annual leaching losses of dissolved organic carbon from pastures on Allophanic Soils grazed by dairy cattle, Waikato, New Zealand." New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research 59(1):...
24/11/15
University of Waikato technician, and a pivotal player in the NZAGRC-funded soil carbon programme, Aaron Wall was a winner in last month’s 2015 KuDos Hamilton Science Excellence Awards. The School of Science Technical Officer...
24/11/15
"Humbled and surprised” is how AgResearch Senior Scientist and NZAGRC Project Leader Dr Jiafa Luo describes his reaction to hearing his name read out as the winner of the Gallagher Agricultural Science Award at this year’s...
18/11/15
This publication provides an overview of the impact of gibberellins on grazed grasslands and the potential for gibberellins to mitigate farm nitrous oxide emissions.
03/11/15
Liu, Q., C. S. Jones, et al. (2015). "Does gibberellin biosynthesis play a critical role in the growth of Lolium perenne? Evidence from a transcriptional analysis of gibberellin and carbohydrate metabolic genes after defoliation." Frontiers in...
12/10/15
There are two PhD studentships available that will contribute to a wider programme of research funded by the Global Partnership for Livestock Emission Research entitled: MANAGEMENT OPTIONS FOR INCREASING SOIL CARBON UNDER GRASSLANDS. The PhD...
15/09/15
Scientific knowledge is usually communicated through text, diagrams and graphs, but the Waikato Biogeochemistry and Ecohydrology Research group (WaiBER) offers an alternative means of communication - via the medium of cake. Once a paper...
10/06/15
This publication provides an overview of what soil carbon is, how we can measure and determine the changes over time and what New Zealand's current soil carbon levels are. this publication was produced in collaboration with the University of...
01/06/15
Bowatte, S., Newton, P. C. D., Hoogendoorn, C. J., Hume, D. E., Stewart, A. V., Brock, S. C. and Theobald, P. W. (2016), Wide variation in nitrification activity in soil associated with different forage plant cultivars and genotypes. Grass Forage...
07/05/15
Cecile provided an overview of the nitrous oxide research being conducted in New Zealand, with a focus on plant and animal interventions. Cecile reminded the audience that animal urine is by far the largest source of nitrogen in the New...
07/05/15
Frank's presentation covered the New Zealand work on soil carbon. He explained the concept that, like planting trees, increasing soil carbon stocks can “offset” greenhouse gas emissions and that if New Zealand could...
07/05/15
Keith provided an international perspective on nitrous oxide and soil carbon research. With respect to N2O, he highlighted work on investigating the genes related to nitrous oxide emissions and noted that there is one clear...
01/04/15
David Whitehead, Grant R. Edwards, Assessment of the application of gibberellins to increase productivity and reduce nitrous oxide emissions in grazed grassland, Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, Volume 207, 1 September 2015, Pages 40-50,...
25/03/15
Emissions of nitrous oxide from grassland systems are attributable largely to the use of nitrogen fertilisers and the excreta deposited by grazing animals. There is increasing interest in using gibberellins as a naturally-occurring growth...
22/03/15
S. Rutledge, P.L. Mudge, D.I. Campbell, S.L. Woodward, J.P. Goodrich, A.M. Wall, M.U.F. Kirschbaum, L.A. Schipper, Carbon balance of an intensively grazed temperate dairy pasture over four years, Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, Volume...
12/03/15
The NZAGRC would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Dr Neha Jha on recently completing her PhD and thank her for her contribution to date to the NZAGRC's nitrous oxide research programme. Neha's PhD study involved steep learning...
12/03/15
Increasing the quantity and stability of carbon stored in agricultural soils has real potential to offset greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to the atmosphere. However, realising this potential is not as straightforward as it might first appear....
12/03/15
It's been said that in order to see the whole picture, you need to step out of the frame. That's the approach that the Principal Investigators of the NZAGRC nitrous oxide (N2O) programme and their team took whilst planning the work out...
08/01/15
Sergio E. Morales, Neha Jha, Surinder Saggar, Biogeography and biophysicochemical traits link NO emissions, NO emission potential and microbial communities across New Zealand pasture soils, Soil Biology and Biochemistry, Volume 82, 2015, Pages...
24/10/14
Could plants be used to reduce nitrification rates in soils and hence reduce nitrate leaching and emissions of nitrous oxide? Results of screening experiments conducted by Dr Saman Bowatte and his team at AgResearch Grasslands campus in...
11/07/14
Bowatte, S., P. C. D. Newton, et al. (2015). "Bacteria on leaves: a previously unrecognised source of N2O in grazed pastures." ISME J 9(1): 265-267. Abstract Nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from grazed pastures are a product of microbial...
01/08/12
Release Newsletter - August 2012 Release007_page4 (2.11MB)
01/08/12
Release Newsletter - August 2012 Release007_page8 (1.04MB)
01/08/12
Release Newsletter - August 2012 Release007_page5 (0.59MB)
01/08/12
Release Newsletter - August 2012 Release007_page7 (0.95MB)
01/08/12
Release Newsletter - August 2012 Release007_page6 (1.46MB)
01/07/12
Chiba, M.K., Cichota, R., Vogeler, I. (2012). Can we improve interpolation of N2O emission measurements by using environmental factors? In: Advanced Nutrient Management: Gains from the Past - Goals for the Future. (Eds L.D. Currie and C L....
01/07/12
Jha, N., Saggar, S., Tillman, R., & Giltrap, D. (2012). Changes in denitrification rate and N2O/N2 ratio with varying soil moisture conditions in New Zealand pasture soils In: Advanced Nutrient Management: Gains from the Past - Goals for...
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...
28/03/12
van der Weerden, T. J., F. M. Kelliher, et al. (2012). "Influence of pore size distribution and soil water content on nitrous oxide emissions." Soil Research 50(2): 125-135. Abstract Nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from agricultural soils have been...
08/03/12
Ball, B.C., Cameron, K.C., Di, H.J. and Moore, S. (2012). Effects of trampling of a wet dairy pasture soil on soil porosity and on mitigation of nitrous oxide emissions by a nitrification inhibitor, dicyandiamide. Soil Use and Management....
01/02/12
Release Newsletter - February 2012 Manipulating Nitrous Oxide producing processes (0.44MB)
15/12/11
Kelliher, F. M., Condron, L. M., Cook, F. J., & Black, A. (2012). Sixty years of seasonal irrigation affects carbon storage in soils beneath pasture grazed by sheep. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment, 148, 29-36 Abstract For sixty...
01/08/11
Release Newsletter - August 2011 New Centre at Lincoln University (1.24MB)
01/12/10
Release Newsletter - December 2010 Nitrification Inhibitors (0.83MB)