FQ 5. Describe how different people perceive the environmental impacts of dairy farming and the measures taken to resolve these impacts

Problems, Causes, Solutions to environmental impacts caused by dairy farming:

Problem
- Contamination of ground water by nutrients from cow wastes and nitrogen fertilisers

Cause
- Leaching of nutrients (over supply of nutrients seeping) into soil in paddocks
- Increased stock densities eg Taranaki: 1975 – 1.43 cows/ha compared to 1996 – 1.70 cows/ha

Solution
- Reduce fertiliser application
- Reduce stock densities

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Problem
- Contamination of streams, rivers and lakes by nutrients from cow wastes and nitrogen fertilisers

Cause
- Surface run-off from paddocks
- Effluent from cowsheds washed into farm streams from cowsheds
- Increased stock densities

Solution
- Reduce fertiliser applications
- Fence off riparian zones (stream banks) and plant shrubs and trees to trap surface run-off
- Better collection, treatment and disposal of cowshed wastes, eg. Two-pond system (Oxidation Ponds)
- Reduce stock densities


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Problem
- Pugging

Cause
- Trampling of grass by cows
- Increased stock densities

Solution
- Create races for the cows to walk on around the farm
- Reduce stock densities