Paterson Family, Kaharoa

The Paterson family's Kaharoa dairy farm sits inside the Lake Rotorua catchment, and with it the catchment's nutrient management rules. In this case study the family explain what they did when those rules tightened: they lowered stocking rates, used nitrogen inhibitors, sowed plantain pastures and built a detainment bund to catch sediment and phosphorus.

The Patersons show the resulting fall in nitrous oxide emissions and nitrogen use over two decades, comparing farm data from 2002 with 2021. They describe how the changes have kept the farm operating within its allocated nitrogen discharge limits.