30 November 2009 Lincoln University's dairying connections many-faceted

Lincoln University and the South Island Dairy Event have been together since the start. The University was one of the initiators of the event back in 1999 and quickly became a corporate partner.

Over the years Lincoln University's involvement with SIDE has been many-faceted from managing the event through the Professional Development Group, hosting the event on campus, providing specialist speakers, and having staff members on SIDE's committee, to editing and producing the annual book of Proceedings.

As New Zealand's specialist land-based university Lincoln University has an intimate association with dairying, which has become one of the power-houses of the country's agricultural economy.

The University's state-of-the-art commercial dairy farm, opened in 2001, is in the top one percent of all dairy farms in New Zealand for productivity and is a well-known venue for extension activities such as Farm Focus Days organised by the South Island Dairying Development Centre (SIDDC).

The Centre, with its offices on the Lincoln University campus, is a partnership between Lincoln University, DairyNZ, Plant and Food Research, Ravensdown, UC and SIDE and its mission is to enhance the competitive advantage of dairying in the South Island.

SIDDC incorporates the Lincoln University Dairy Farm and numerous research and extension projects. Among research projects which have attracted international attention is the nitrification inhibitor work of Professor Keith Cameron and Professor Hong Di which led to the development of the eco-n technology. Their work on mitigating the environmental impacts of dairy farming is on-going and now has the further advantage of access to a dedicated research dairy farm at Lincoln University. This 56-hectare unit, operational since August, is the first dedicated dairy research farm in the South Island and stands as a "companion farm" to the commercial demonstration farm.

Among research projects under way there is the work of Lincoln University's Professor of Dairy Production, Dr Grant Edwards, on cow forage crops and nutrition. The Professorship in Dairy Production at Lincoln University is jointly funded by the University and DairyNZ and Professor Edwards was appointed in March this year.

Professor Edwards' appointment and the establishment of a dedicated dairy research farm are "twin pivots in Lincoln University's drive to build critical mass in dairy research and teaching, combining the strength of the University and colleagues for the benefit of farmers," says Lincoln University's Vice-Chancellor, Professor Roger Field.