“The farms we visited had undergone gradual infrastructure upgrades in recent years which helped them to get up to speed with the Code and reduce their fertiliser and water usage. Some of the components had funding contributions from Healthy Estuaries WA and it was great to see the systems working well,” she added.

“By getting out on farm and providing resources that complement the Code of Practice, we’re hoping to better support farmers through the planning process when they’re looking at upgrading infrastructure,” Niamh said.

Western Dairy’s extension officer Dan Parnell noted that some emerging changes in WA’s dairy industry will make best-practice effluent management even more critical.

“There’s a potential trend in the dairy industry towards more intensification, where cows are housed or spend less time on the paddock. That means we capture more nutrients which makes effluent management more challenging, but alongside that there are some great opportunities,” Dan said.

“Farmers will need to invest in a system capable of catching and treating all the effluent and have a sufficient area to reapply these nutrients to match crop or pasture requirements.”