Useful Tools for the Identification of NRM related issues on your Farm

by Mid North Coast YDN (as part of caring for our country project)

There are a number of useful tools available to help in the identification of NRM related issues on your farm. The two to be discussed in this article, are DairySat and the Farm Nutrient Loss Index.

DairySAT is a Self-Assessment Tool that was developed by Dairy Australia to assist dairy farmers to assess their natural resource management. It is now available online and is a practical and easy to use solution to help in the development of an action plan for NRM issues on your farm.

For assistance in the use of this tool please contact your respective Dairying for Tomorrow coordinator - Steve Lacey (Qld) and Jess Jennings (NSW).

To use DairySat, click the following link: http://www.dairyingfortomorrow.com/index.php?id=91

Once you have launched the tool you will see the following screen, answer the questions in each of the sections then press the View Buttons to see an action plan or results.

If you require a more detailed assessment of Nutrient Management for your farm then the Farm Nutrient Loss Index (FNLI) may be something to look at. The FNLI is a software package that has been developed for farm advisors and helps predict the relative risk of nitrogen and phosphorus loss to the environment from different paddocks. It uses easily identified inputs such as landscape features, climatic conditions, and pasture and stock management practices to calculate the risk of N and P loss in paddocks and evaluate the effects of different management practices.

These are just a couple of tools to assist you in assessing NRM related issues on your farm, there are many others available out there such as Incitec/Pivots Nutrient Budgeting Program which 4 farms in the MNC region recently completed as part of their caring for our country project on “Increasing the understanding of Sustainable Ecosystem Management in the Northern NSW Dairy Region”.