Dairy farmer Adrian Ball used to crank out as much milk as possible and the big figures were a source of pride. Then about 15 years ago he started thinking more about the environment and making changes to his farming model.
This year, Adrian and his wife Pauline won the Waikato - Ballance Farm Environment Award.
Adrian says ego and arrogance used to have him cranking out the milk production on his Tīrau dairy farm.
The higher the production tallies, the happier he was.
Then he heard the late conservationist Gordon Stephenson (founder of the Waikato Farm Environment Awards) talking about the environment and the birds.
Stephenson's words made Adrian reassess his farming operation.
"There aren't many people you can still picture in your mind after 15 years that made a real influence about how you think about your system," he told the large group of people who were visiting his farm recently.
Adrian and Pauline Ball took out the supreme title at this year's Waikato Ballance Farm Environment Awards and this was their showcase field day.
The Balls have removed palm kernel extract (PKE) from their system – all supplementary food (lucerne and maize silage) is homegrown – and Adrian reckons it's time New Zealand stopped importing PKE.
In terms of stock changes, the Balls have gone from solely farming dairy cows at a very high stocking rate – and sending unwanted young calves away on the bobby calf truck – to running a hybrid system of dairy cows alongside dairy beef cattle with no bobby calves.
Cow numbers have gone from 4.2/ha to 2.8/ha – pretty well the region's average. The farm is still in the top quarter of farms for profitability.
Greenhouse gas emissions have halved to 10.6 tonnes hectare, bringing them closer to the district average and they’ve also lowered nitrogen leaching to 25 kg/ha when it had been 79 kg/ha.
Anything under 30 is seen as good, Adrian says.
Adrian says it's all about keeping an open mind and being prepared to solve problems – "embracing the future is better than trying to protect the past".
Changing his farm practices also had a possibly unexpected side benefit, Adrian says.
"Sometimes with change it inspires you to get a new lease on life with what you're doing. You know, after 30 years of doing the same thing you sometimes get a bit stale, so for me these changes have really helped me develop a passion again."
