Sustainability is high on the agenda for Co-op farmer Warren MacPherson, and he has some little critters on-farm to help him achieve his goals.
Warren and his wife Denise have been dairy farming for the best part of 30 years after transitioning from sheep and beef. They milk 1,350 cows through two sheds on a 950ha property, including runoffs, in Southland.
“I’ve been a biological type of farmer all my life, really. When I was sheep and beef farming, I didn’t do too much chemical drenching because I could see the risks of drench resistance.”
That biological farming system means Warren uses no urea on his pastures and doesn’t buy palm kernel extract for supplementary feeding.
“We like to farm with what is supplied and grown locally,” he says. That ethos sees Warren use some innovative measures to meet his sustainability ambitions.
“We use Permastore tanks for effluent so there is no risk of leakage like there can be with ponds. I add bio-bacteria to the tanks once a month. They immediately multiply and break down the sludge and crusting that can build up and stop the bad smell,” says Warren.
He also makes use of tiger worms to meet his goals. “Our effluent plants have a separator, which takes out about 90% of the solids that fall into a concrete bunker where the tiger worms are. They do a wonderful job, reducing the solids volume by about 80%,” laughs Warren.
“The castings they leave behind are incredibly rich in nutrients like potash and nitrogen. As long as they have plenty of food and don’t get waterlogged, they will convert your solids into a fantastic fertiliser. Tiger worms won’t survive in a paddock environment,” he says.
“Our annual soil testing is carefully monitored, and fertiliser is applied as needed, and when sowing crops. Lime and dolomite are also added, and bacteria-treated effluent is spread over every inch of soil to recycle the nutrients back where they came from.”
An earthworm count completed in the winter should contain 10 worms per farmer’s spade. Warren has some paddocks with as many as 150. A high earthworm count correlates with less need for synthetic fertilisers. “There’s no such thing as too many earthworms,” says Warren.
