Effluent breaches costly: ORC
Susie McKeague’s sympathies are genuine when she talks about the impact on dairy farmers being convicted for illegal dairy effluent discharge. In the interview with the ODT she posted a scenario that illustrated how dairy farmers needed to change their thinking with the enviroment and effluent disposal. But some dairy farmers had not listened to warnings and advice, and had ignored the Otago Regional Council’s carrot-instead-of-stick approach.The council’s farm infrastructure wish list included:• Sealed effluent storage ponds able to hold three months worth of effluent.• A travelling irrigator that applied 3mm to 4mm per application with area of up to 8ha per 100 cows.• Waterways with buffer zones up to 3m wide, depending on the slope,and stream crossings to have culverts with bunds to stop effluent washing over the side.• Buffer zone on lanes adjacent to a waterway and drainage from the dairy shed yard fed into effluent storage.Buffer zone of up to 5m for greenfeed crops which are beside a waterway and a standoff area for cows when exceptionally wet.• Liquid storage capacity for drainage from standoff pads and silage pits and careful placement of silage and offal pits in areas with a high ground water table. • Nutrient budgeting to take account of effluent irrigation.
Tags: Effluent, Otago Daily Times, Otago regional council, Susie McKeague, Travelling irrigators
