<p class="MsoNormal">Pastoral Robotics Ltd, founded by Aucklanders Geoff Bates and Bert Quin, has received a grant from the New Zealand Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Research Council (NZAGRC) to help optimisation and on-farm testing of its full-size &lsquo;Spikey&rsquo; prototype. Spikey&reg; is a tow-behind device for dairy farmers to detect and treat fresh cow urine patches, long before they become visible via increased grass growth. &ldquo;By the time they are visible, it is too late to do anything much about reducing either losses of greenhouse gases such as nitrous oxide, or nitrate leaching&rdquo;, says Dr Quin.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 14.85px;">Geoff Bates said that Spikey&reg; essentially measures soil electrical conductivity to allow detection of fresh urine patches on a daily or every-second-day basis, and simultaneously treat them with the most appropriate spray treatment for the farm&rsquo;s location and soil type. The first product developed, named ORUN&reg;, is a mix of the urease inhibitor nbot and the growth promotant gibberellic acid. Field tests to date show an average 70% increase in nitrogen (N) recovery from the urine patch. The ORUN&reg; keeps the urea in the urine in that form for a few days, allowing the urea to spread out so that more plants access the N. This results in more grass growth from every urine patch, and lower N losses.</span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 14.85px;">&ldquo;Calculations indicate that up to 14% more grass can be grown annually&rdquo; said Quin. &ldquo;The main environmental benefit to date has been less nitrate in the soil profile. We are now investigating sprays that will minimise nitrous oxide greenhouse gas emissions in as wide a range of conditions as possible</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 14.85px;">The pair say that unlike most other ways of reducing&nbsp;&nbsp; losses to the environment under investigation, Spikey&reg; is a win-win solution for farmers in that the extra grass growth obtained makes it very cost-effective for farmers to use in its own right. Towing Spikey&reg; over the 3-4 hectares grazed each day would take only 20-30 minutes, they say. &ldquo;On top of this, it will also be possible to apply fertiliser nitrogen at the same time, so for farmers &lsquo;following the cows&rsquo; with fertiliser urea anyway, the increase in time required would be minimal.&rdquo;</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 14.85px;">Pastoral Robotics expects to have an 8-meter width &lsquo;Spikey2&rsquo; ready for farm trials in late March.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">-- View a short video of Spikey<span style="line-height: 14.85px;">&reg;</span><span style="line-height: 14.85px;">&nbsp;in action<span class="h7">&nbsp;</span></span><a title="https://youtu.be/77DfSfaovhc ... - link will open in a new window" href="https://youtu.be/77DfSfaovhc" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/77DfSfaovhc</a></p>
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