In Australia, the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) in each state has responsibility for managing environmental issues, this includes managing effluent (liquid waste) and nutrients such as nitrogen on farms to keep it out of waterways. 

Managing nutrients such as nitrogen in a dairy system is complex and specific to individual farms. Australia’s dairy industry is distinctly different from New Zealand and other countries in terms of operations, as well as important environmental factors like geology, rainfall, and climate.

Now, let’s look at nitrogen. Nitrogen naturally cycles through dairy farming systems—from soil to cow and back onto pasture via urine and dung. Farming systems generally rely on additional nutrients such as nitrogen in the form of fertiliser for optimal pasture growth. Unfortunately, poor fertiliser management can lead to significant amounts of nutrients being lost to the environment, contributing to greenhouse gas emissions and contaminating waterways and groundwater.

For this reason, the Australian dairy industry has prioritised nutrient management on dairy farms and has set a 2030 target for 100% adoption of nutrient management plans under the Australian Dairy Industry Sustainability Framework. The Environment Protection Authorities (EPA) in each state are responsible for managing environmental issues, including keeping effluent and nutrients like nitrogen on farms and out of waterways.

The dairy industry encourages farmers to be proactive in understanding why fertiliser should be applied to their specific farm. Approximately 85% of dairy farmers undertake soil testing of their individual paddocks (2020 farmer survey). This helps ensure fertiliser is applied at the right rate, in the right place, and at the right time, ensuring both environmental protection and economic benefit by reducing excess fertiliser runoff.