Lindsay and Marie Marshall have invested nearly $170,000 on a two-pond effluent system for their Paretai dairy farm in South Otago to give them and their sharemilker peace of mind and to eliminate the potential for an incident.
Dairy New Zealand hosted a field day at the Marshalls' South Otago farm to view the two-pond system which was completed in the middle of February.
Mrs Marshall said shed effluent was pumped in to a sludge pond with the liquid able to pass through two weeping walls.
That liquid was then pumped into a 3 million-litre holding pond and then spread on to paddock via a 1.5km long low application rate k-line irrigation system.
It was applied when soil conditions allow.
The holding pond can contain 90 days of shed effluent.
"We were trying to be pro-active. We wanted to future-proof it and make it easier for staff to use when we're not on site," she said.
Because the Paretai water table was so high, the ponds had to be built above ground.
The two ponds cost $140,000 and the new 1.5km long mainline irrigation system $23,500.
Dairy NZ Otago consulting officer Caroline Hadley said change was happening to improve the management of dairy effluent on Otago dairy farms.
She has organised a series of field days around the province to promote best practice, farmers were sharing ideas and experiences and the dairy action team, made up of representatives from the Otago Regional Council, Federated Farmers, Fish and Game New Zealand, AgResearch, Dairy NZ and local farmers has been reactivated.
"I think we are starting to make progress in this area," she said.
Mrs Hadley said the message to farmers was that they needed sufficient storage to contain effluent when soil conditions meant it could not be applied to the land and that a low rate applicator, such as k-line irrigation systems, tended to have fewer potential problems than travelling irrigators.
Dairy NZ was also developing a code of practice for effluent management companies and engineers so farmers could have confidence in their ability to develop and install systems and structures.
This practical advice, together with a forum for farmers to air their views and to also get support should they face prosecution, should help farmers improve their performance, she said.