Organic dairy farming for profit

George Moss has managed to worry his fellow dairy farmers in a way that usually only interventionist American presidents and sandal-wearing hippies can reports the Taranaki Daily. The thing about Moss, and the cause of much angst among the dairy farming community, he says, is that he's taking part in a long-running experiment to prove, one way or another, whether organic dairy farming actually stacks up. "We've got both the organic and conventional people scared," the affable - and bearded - South Waikato farmer says with a laugh over coffee, with non-organic milk, in his cosy home just outside Tokoroa. They're worried, he says, that one form will return a markedly better outcome than the other. If the organic dairy farm comes out on top, it could lead to even more pressure on dairy farmers to go green. If conventional farming wins, environmentalists worry it will shatter the dreams of the pioneering organic farmers who believe they are doing their bit to save the world. It would lead to even more intensive farming on prime land already showing signs of stress after years of abuse. There has been an increasing focus on the sustainability of dairy farming in recent times. And the world in general is becoming more concerned about the impact intensive food production has on the environment. The temperature was ratcheted up several notches late last year, when regional council Environment Waikato (EW) released a damning report about the condition of the region's water and soil, sheeting home much of the blame to dairy farms.The figures contained in the report were staggering and sobering. Each of the 4500 farms in the Waikato leached an average of 3.6 tonnes of nitrogen a year, it says. Scientific estimates showed 97 truckloads of urea fertiliser entered the sea at Port Waikato every week, while another 32 truckloads wound up in the Firth of Thames. About 70% of waterways were deemed unsafe for swimming. "There are clear links between declining water and soil quality and the intensification of land use in the region," the reports says. "Increasingly, there are signs that for farming itself to survive into future decades, there will need to be some changes." The report showed that from 1997 to 2007, the number of dairy cows in the region increased by more than 10,000 a year. The amount of nitrogen fertiliser used on Waikato farms has increased seven-fold since 1990 as farmers strived for higher production levels from their land.