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Article: Dairy farms' energy use compares well
- Article from:
- The Press
- Article date:
- April 18, 2002
CopyrightCopyright 2002 The Press. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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New Zealand dairy farms use less energy than dairy farms overseas,
a Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry commissioned study shows.
This is despite the fact energy use has doubled on New Zealand
dairy farms over the last 20 years.
The study, prepared by the late Dr Colin Wells of the University
of Otago, is based on data from 150 dairy farms, irrigated and non-
irrigated, throughout the country.
MAF director of policy information and regions Alan Walker said
the main cause of increased energy use was the growing use of
nitrogen fertilisers, and the amount of energy needed for their
manufacture.
He said, however, that the high power requirement for spray
irrigation was emerging as a ...