Whatawhata Sustainable Land Management Project
Land and water researchers, farmers, and regulatory agencies are working together in a catchment management group to improve the sustainability of hill land management. The project is focused on a 280 ha ‘model farm’ at Whatawhata Research Centre near Hamilton.
We began by defining the state of the resources – including farm economics, livestock performance, soil fertility and erosion, terrestrial and aquatic biodiversity, stream health, and sediment and nutrient losses – and we then carried out field and computer-modelling experiments to test how the land and water resources might be better managed.
In 1998–99 the farm surplus was less than $100/ha, the steeper land (about 75% of the farm) had erosion and weed problems, and stream habitat and water quality were degraded in comparison with an adjacent forested catchment.
The catchment group developed a new land management plan designed to improve both economic and environmental performance in the long term. Pine plantations were established on the steeper land, and the livestock management system has changed to better use pasture growth on the easy-contoured land. Stock are now excluded from most waterways, and native forest restoration areas have been established in one subcatchment. Ongoing monitoring is evaluating the effects of the changes in a holistic manner.
Already, farm surplus has increased by 75%, even though there is less land in pasture. For more information, see www.whatawhata.co.nz.
John Quinn [ [email protected] ] Mike Dodd [ [email protected] ]