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Context. The aim of farm-systems research is to test concepts in a holistic context that enables results to be as applicable as possible to commercial farmers. A downside of such research has been that it can take several seasons to be confident in the consistency of the outcomes and interpretation of the results. Scientists are often reluctant to communicate outcomes until they have clear conclusions, which conflicts with farmers' desire to see rapid answers and engage with research. Aims. This paper reviews a 3-year farm-systems research project investigating flexible milking strategies for New Zealand dairy farmers. The aims of this paper are to (1) examine the impact of real-time science communication in achieving farm system change, and (2) develop a framework for science communication and engagement in adaptive farm-systems research. Methods. The project involved farmer interviews, a farmlet experiment, a component experiment, partner farms, modelling, and a farmer reference group. We use data from sources such as e-newsletter engagement, webinar participation, web-page engagement, presentation attendance, and farmer feedback to collect insights on the impact of the project. Key results. The analysis highlighted that farmers do not always seek complete information and will follow a project as it evolves, particularly when it is highly topical. We propose a framework for delivering adaptive farm systems research and communication. The framework includes the critical aspects for real-time farm-systems research: credible evidence, rapid results, inclusion of farmer voices, meaningful outcomes, flexible communication channels, iterative feedback loops, and adaptable research design. Conclusion. Farm-systems research can be designed to communicate results to farmers as a project develops, while simultaneously using the engagement with farmers to refine the direction of the research. Implications. This framework can guide scientists leading multi-year farm systems projects to design, implement, and communicate the project outcomes to improve farmer engagement and adoption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This perspective paper provides industry leaders, researchers and policy developers strategic approaches to ensure that the welfare of dairy cattle is protected at the same time as the industry increases its resilience to climate change. Farm systems and practices will evolve in response to the direct impacts of climate change and/or from responses to climate change, such as mitigation strategies to reduce dairy's greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions. The five domains framework (nutrition, physical environment, health, behaviour, mental state) was used to assess the potential impacts on animal welfare and strategies to minimise these impacts are outlined. Given that the future climate cannot be certain these approaches can be applied under a range of emissions pathways to (1) ensure that the effects of GHG mitigations on animal welfare are considered during their development, (2) engage with end users and the public to ensure solutions to the effects of climate change and weather variability are accepted by consumers and communities, (3) identify and measure the areas where improved animal health can contribute to reducing GHG emissions from dairy production, (4) ensure those supporting farmers to develop and manage their farm systems understand what constitutes a good quality of life for dairy cattle, (5) ensure effective surveillance of animal disease and monitoring of welfare outcomes and farm-system performance in response to climate change and GHG mitigations. Overall, these strategies require a multidisciplinary co-development approach to ensure that the welfare of dairy cattle is protected at the same time as the industry increases its resilience to the wider impacts of a changing climate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Red deer (Cervus elaphus) are widely distributed throughout cold northern temperate latitudes, where they have evolved to cope within highly seasonal continental environments. Naturalisation of red deer to the more moderate seasonal (but variable climatic) environment of New Zealand has been spectacularly successful, and they are widely farmed in the country's pastoral environment for venison and antlers. The species is genetically programmed to exhibit photoperiodic control of voluntary feed intake, growth and reproduction, ensuring that energy demands are aligned with seasonally available resources and offspring are born in summer when climate is favourable for survival. However, despite genetic control of their endogenous seasonal cycles, there appears to be a strong ability for environmental factors such as nutrition to generate large phenotypic variation of seasonal traits. This may have contributed to their successful naturalisation to a wider range of seasonal environments than would be expected within their ancestral range. While precise timing of conception and duration of gestation length are the two fundamental mechanisms by which the strict seasonality of birth is maintained in seasonally breeding mammals, red deer exhibit considerable variation in both these traits. The present paper examines the outcomes of recent studies on farmed red deer on the impacts of lactation on conception date, the influence of nutrition during pregnancy on gestation length, and early life growth effects on the onset of female puberty. These studies have collectively demonstrated that while red deer are assumed to be under fairly rigorous genetic control of seasonality traits, they have a repertoire of phenotypic variation at various points of the reproductive cycle that may potentially allow a degree of adaptation to climatic variation that influences annual feed supply. This may explain the success of red deer in colonising a range of new environments that differ seasonally from their ancestral environment. Red deer (Cervus elaphus) exhibit annual seasonal cycles of reproduction largely mediated by genetically controlled responses to photoperiod. However, recent researches on farmed red deer in New Zealand have identified phenotypic variation in seasonal breeding under environmental control. These include impacts of female body condition during the mating and lactation periods on conception date, the influence of mid–late gestational feeding on gestation length and early life nutritional influences on body-mass set points for female entry into puberty. These non-genetic mechanisms may contribute to the species ability to naturalise to new environments that differ seasonally from ancestral environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dairy feeding systems in Australia and New Zealand have seen an increase in the use of mixed rations to manage variability in climate and market conditions and enable a certain degree of resilience in the operating environment. In this review, resilience was defined as the ability of the farm system to respond to challenges, optimise productivity and profitability for a given set of circumstances, and persist over time. Specific attributes of a dairy system that contribute to resilience were considered as flexibility, consistency, adaptation, sustainability and profitability. A flexible forage base that uses water efficient forage species provides a consistent supply of nutrients from home-grown forages across the year and is a key driver of resilience. Consistent milk production from purchased concentrates adds value to the forage base and will ensure that the system is profitable in the long term. Appropriate investment in infrastructure and careful management of debt has a positive impact on technical and financial efficiency and improves overall economic performance and resilience of the system. Nutrients, feed wastage, cow comfort and welfare were also identified as key areas to focus on for improved sustainability. Future research investigating the interaction between forages and concentrates, and the subsequent milk production response will be important for the future resilience of mixed ration systems. Adaptive management at a tactical and strategic level across several technical areas will further underpin the resilience of a mixed ration dairy system, and minimise the impact of climate and price variability. This will have flow on benefits to animal welfare and resource sustainability, which will have a positive impact of the public perception of these systems within the Australian and New Zealand dairy industries. The use of mixed ration feeding systems in Australia and New Zealand has increased in the past decade in response to variable climate and market conditions and to enable dairy businesses to be more resilient. This paper reviews the attributes contributing to resilience, namely flexibility, consistency, adaptation, sustainability and profitability with a particular focus on the forage base, milk production responses, the production : cost base and resource management. Potential areas for future work to maintain the resilience of mixed ration systems are also considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: Dairy farming will be increasingly scrutinised for its environmental impacts, in particular for its impacts on freshwater quality in New Zealand and elsewhere. Management and mitigation of high nitrate losses is one of the greatest water-quality challenges facing dairy farming in New Zealand and other countries. Management of critical flow pathways and nitrate-attenuation capacity could offer potential solutions to this problem and help maintain dairy-farming productivity, while reducing its water-quality impacts. Aims: The present paper reviewed the key water-quality issues faced by dairy farming and assessed potential of emerging edge-of-paddock technologies, and catchment-scale nutrient-attenuation practices, to reduce nitrate losses from dairy farming to receiving water bodies. Methods: We developed a conceptual catchment-scale modelling analysis assessing potential natural and built attenuation of nitrate losses from dairy farming in the Tararua and Rangitikei catchments (located in the lower part of the North Island, New Zealand). Key results: This exploratory analysis suggests that a reduction of greater than 25% in the river nitrate loads from dairy-farming areas could potentially be achieved by spatially aligning dairy land with areas of high subsurface nitrate-attenuation capacity, and by managing critical flow pathways using innovative edge-of-field technologies such as controlled drainage, drainage-water harvesting for supplemental irrigation, woodchip bioreactors, and constructed wetlands in the study catchments. Conclusions: The research findings highlighted the potential to better understand, map and effectively utilise existing natural and new built-in nitrate-attenuation capacity to significantly reduce water-quality impacts from dairy farming across environmentally sensitive agricultural catchments. This knowledge and tools could help farmers close the gap between what can be achieved with current, in-field mitigation practises and the nitrogen-loss allocation imposed by regulatory authorities. Implications: However, the research findings presented here are based on a coarse-scale, conceptual modelling analysis, and therefore further research is recommended to develop tools and practices to better understand, map and effectively utilise existing natural and new built-in nitrogen attenuation capacity at farm-scale to achieve productive and environmentally friendly pastoral dairy farming across agricultural landscapes. Water-quality impacts of dairy farming can be significantly reduced by developing tools and practices to design and manage dairy land use and drainage waters. This would include spatial alignment of intensive dairy lands with naturally high nitrogen-attenuation capacity pathways that reduce nitrate losses to sensitive water bodies. Likewise, the development of innovative edge-of-field technologies such as controlled drainage, drainage-water harvesting and re-use, woodchip bioreactors, and constructed wetlands enable the management of critical flow pathways from dairy farming on artificially drained lands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Australasian dairy industry is facing the dual challenges of increasing productivity, while also reducing its emissions of the greenhouse gases (GHG) methane and nitrous oxide. Following the COP21 Paris Agreement, all sectors of the economy will be expected to contribute to GHG abatement. Enteric methane is the major source of GHG emissions from dairy production systems (>70%), followed by nitrous oxide (13%) and methane (12%) from animal waste, with nitrogen (N)-fertiliser use contributing ~3.5% of total on-farm non-carbon dioxide equivalent (non-CO2e) emissions. Research on reducing methane emissions from dairy cattle has focussed on feeding dietary supplements (e.g. tannins, dietary oils and wheat), rumen modification (e.g. vaccine, inhibitors), breeding and animal management. Research on reducing nitrous oxide emissions has focussed on improving N fertiliser efficiency and reducing urinary N loss. Profitable options for significant abatement on farm are still limited, with the industry focusing instead on improving production efficiency, while reducing emission intensity (t CO2e/t product). Absolute emission reduction will become an imperative as the world moves towards carbon neutrality by 2050 and, thus, a priority for research. However, even with implementation of best-practice abatement, it is likely that some residual emissions will remain in the foreseeable future. The soil organic carbon content of dairy soils under well fertilised, high-rainfall or irrigated permanent pastures are already high, therefore limiting the potential for further soil carbon sequestration as an offset against these residual emissions. The Australasian dairy industry will, therefore, also need to consider how these residual emissions will be offset through carbon sequestration mainly in trees and, to a more limited extent, increasing soil organic carbon. The Australasian dairy industry is facing the challenge of increasing productivity while also reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This paper reviews the most promising technologies, concluding that substantial GHG abatement is possible, but the industry will need to consider further offsets in trees to achieve carbon-neutral dairy farming in Australia and New Zealand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews current challenges in the Australian extension environment and provides a case for developing an adaptive extension platform for the dairy sector in Australia and New Zealand, to support evolving dairy farm systems. The variation in the public-sector engagement in extension, the diversity and number of extension providers and a relatively uncoordinated approach to define new extension roles, functions and professional requirements are current challenges for dairy extension across Australia. In the dairy sector, these challenges coincide with increasing demand for a responsive research, development, extension and education system in supporting the rapid evolution in dairy farming systems. Addressing these challenges is not an issue for extension alone; however, the required level of integration among research, development, extension and education in an environment where needs are changing and resources are scarce demands an engaged dairy-science profession. Drawing on international extension and agricultural innovation-system literature and earlier empirical research, the following three areas for development are proposed: (1) a professional development strategy that incorporates (i) an understanding of the new professional situations extension works within, (ii) leadership in cross-industry and cross-sector coordination concerning the nature of the changing client in research, development, extension and education system and (iii) clear priorities for extension; (2) a professional development plan that incorporates a workplace-learning approach; and (3) for extension specialists to be engaged in defining research priorities, the agenda for change and suitable pathways for change alongside other professional groups, including farming. This development agenda will, however, require an adaptive extension platform to advance these areas on behalf of farmers and public stakeholders. New thinking about the role of extension in supporting evolving dairy farm systems is required. This paper identifies significant changes and challenges impacting on the development of extension strategies in Australia and New Zealand. With increasing demand for a responsive research, development, extension and education system and declining resources, there is an imperative for dairy scientists to be active partners in addressing the challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Changes in the farm operating and policy environments and a need to remain profitable under a cost-price squeeze have contributed to dairy systems in Australia and New Zealand becoming more intensive and complex in recent decades. Farm systems in both countries are now diverse, varying from being based predominantly on pasture with little purchased supplements, to those dependent on high levels of feed supplements and even having zero grazing. Dairy farm performance (defined in this paper as production or technical performance), return (return on assets or profit) and risk (variation in economic performance over time), and intensity of dairy systems was examined using farm survey data, case studies and existing published studies. The level of single technical performance measures, such as milk production, feed conversion efficiency and pasture consumption, prevailing in a business are not guides to the operating profit and return on assets of a business. In addition, when survey data of farm performance was grouped by return on assets, few farms were in the top 25% in successive years. Farms that performed consistently well were characterised by good, but not extreme, technical performance in a range of key areas, which translated to favourable business return (return on asset and profit). The knowledge and skills of farm managers are critical, and means that many different dairy systems can perform well physically and financially and successfully meet farmer goals. The relation between risk and the intensity of dairy systems was also investigated. Options that intensified systems generally resulted in higher net wealth for the farm owner, but almost always at increased risk. The best system for any farmer to operate is one which best meets their multifaceted preferences and goals, regardless of system type. A need to remain profitable under fluctuating operating and climatic conditions has increased the intensity of dairy systems in Australia and New Zealand. This paper examined if farm technical performance, profit and risk were related to farm system intensity and complexity. Single technical performance measures were poor guides of profit, with profitable businesses being more about the skills of the farm operator, and less about the system being run. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

G. L. McClymont developed a unique paradigm in which to consider the challenges that confront agriculture and it is based on an understanding of the interrelationships of plants, animals, soils and water within an economic and social framework. The major changes in our environment are the consequence of rapid population growth and the need to increase world food supplies. Within this context, this paper provides an overview of the link between agriculture, especially animal production and population health and how mycotoxins, fungal secondary metabolites, can perturb this link. Examples from New Zealand and Australian animal agriculture are described. The underlying premise of this paper is that agriculture is a major determinant of human health through the supply of food derived from both plant and animal sources. In other words, nutrition is the conduit between agriculture and human health. Against this backdrop the potential role of mycotoxins in determining food and feed supplies is discussed. Globally, mycotoxins have significant human and animal health, economic and international trade implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]