A Waikato-based company has made a genetic discovery it expects will reduce nitrogen leaching on New Zealand farms by 20 percent with 20 years.
Dairy herd improvement company CRV Ambreed has bred bulls whose daughters will have reduced levels of Milk Urea Nitrogen (MUN) - a measure of the amount of nitrogen contained as milk urea.
CRV Ambreed R&D Manager Phil Beatson says international evidence shows a direct connection between MUN and the amount of nitrogen excreted in urine when fed different diets.
Mr Beatson says daughters of the bulls, named LowN Sires, could potentially save New Zealand 10 million kilograms in nitrogen leaching a year, based on a national herd number of 6.5 million dairy cattle.
He says CRV Ambreed's projections indicate it's possible to breed cattle that will reduce nitrogen leaching by 20 percent within 20 years.
"If this connection carries over, cows bred for lower levels of MUN are expected to excrete less nitrogen in their urine which will, in turn, reduce the amount of nitrogen leached from grazed pasture."
CRV Ambreed Managing Director Angus Haslett says the firm has been researching the connection between MUN and nitrogen in urine for five years.
Mr Haslett says the company will be the first organisation in New Zealand and possibly the world to provide a long-term genetic solution to nitrogen leaching by identifying and selecting bulls for low MUN genes.
He says there is still research to be done to further test and confirm the genetic development.
DairyNZ Strategy and Investment Leader for Productivity, Dr Bruce Thorrold, says the discovery could give farmers in nitrogen-limited regions such as Canterbury more options to reduce leaching without going away from a pasture-based system.
Newshub.
