Compost tipped to boost dairy farm returns
NEW ZEALAND - Compost made in the Waikato could boost pasture growth on the region's dairy farms.Tirohia Compost Solutions - which has plants in Tirohia and Matamata - has allowed AgResearch to trial its compost. An onion grower and a maize grower who trialled the compost increased production by about 10 per cent but a trial on Kerry Simpson's dairy farm, near Matamata, proved inconclusive.
"Kerry puts quite a lot of fertiliser on his property," Tirohia Compost Solutions managing director Craig Bigham said. "We are looking, this year, to reproduce the same trial."
Research associate Bob Longhurst, based at AgResearch's Ruakura campus, said he was setting up a more in-depth maize trial on the company's behalf using eight paddocks instead of four.
Mr Longhurst said the chance of good results was high. "It's a good product. They could even go for bio-grown certification."
Source: stuff.co.nz