Erosion control

Waikato dairy farmers Rod and Sandra McKinnon talk about strategies they use to protect the soil on their farm.

Question for discussion:

• Why do the McKinnons place beef cattle rather than dairy cattle on the steeper part of the farm?

Transcript

ROD McKINNON

We’re very conscious about putting the right animal on the right paddock, contour-wise, soil erosion-wise. So our beef animals stay on the steeper parts of the farm and we only keep them through one winter. So the second winter, once they’re bigger animals, we move them on and so that we’re not impacting upon the soil for erosion and pugging.

SANDRA McKINNON

Obviously if you’re planting the appropriate trees in the appropriate places, then you’re going to see less erosion. We do live in an area down by the river where we do have flooding from time to time that erodes the bank. The stream going through there is quite, quite vicious in various turns. So we’re seeing less of that, we’re seeing banks that were falling away we’re stopping them from the point they were.

Acknowledgements

Rod and Sandra McKinnon
Footage of beef cattle: Dairy NZ, Healthy Farms Healthy Rivers and Waikato Regional Council
Drone footage of McKinnon’s farm filmed by AF Productions and Paul Sutherland Photography. Copyright Yardmaster