creators_name: Kelly, Terry
creators_name: Butcher, Natalie
creators_name: Harrington, Kerry
creators_name: Holmes, Colin
creators_name: Horne, Dave
creators_name: Kemp, Peter
creators_name: Palmer, Alan
creators_name: Quinn, Alison
creators_name: Shadbolt, Nicola
creators_name: Thatcher, Alan
type: conference_item
datestamp: 2006-11-18
lastmod: 2009-08-20 14:25:29
metadata_visibility: show
title: Organic-Conventional Dairy Systems Trial in New Zealand: Four Years’ Results
ispublished: unpub
subjects: 1animalprod
full_text_status: public
keywords: Organic Dairy Farming, comparative systems trial, organic production systems
abstract: The Organic-Conventional Comparative Dairy Systems trial at Massey University began in August 2001, and the organic farmlet achieved certification in August 2003.  The trial is unique because it is the only comparative grassland-based open grazing dairy study in the world.  The organic and conventional systems are managed individually according to best practice, and both are intensively monitored for production, animal health, and environmental impacts.  The systems remained similar for the first two years, but began to diverge in the third and fourth years.  Production has been 10-20% lower on the organic farm, but environmental impacts appear to be less than on the conventional unit, and net incomes would be similar given a 20% price premium for the organic product.  Animal health issues have been manageable on the organic farmlet, and not too dissimilar from the conventional farmlet.  Full results after four years of the trial will be available and presented at the conference.
date: 2005
date_type: published
refereed: never
citation: Kelly, Terry; Butcher, Natalie; Harrington, Kerry; Holmes, Colin; Horne, Dave; Kemp, Peter; Palmer, Alan; Quinn, Alison; Shadbolt, Nicola and Thatcher, Alan (2005) Organic-Conventional Dairy Systems Trial in New Zealand: Four Years’ Results. Researching Sustainable Systems - International Scientific Conference on Organic Agriculture, Adelaide, Australia, September 21-23, 2005. [ Unpublished, ]
document_url: http://orgprints.org/4392/4/4392-Kelly_etal_4p_revised-ed.pdf