Nutrient loss from dairy farms is an issue of serious concern to most dairy farmers around the world. On grazed systems such as those practiced in New Zealand animal excreta has been identified as a major source of nutrient loss, which for nitrogen (N) relates to cattle urine in particular.  A study was commissioned to examine nutrient transfer around dairy farms associated with the cows with a view to developing improved precision nutrient application strategies to reduce nutrient loss from individual farms.

A system of activity monitoring for individual animals was developed that included GPS tracking,  urine sensors and activity meters. One objective was to map activity including urine deposited on pasture. This system gave researchers a very good base-line study of cow activity and behaviour within this environment. A total of thirty cows were fitted with GPS collars and these were managed within a herd of 180 cows. A number within the group were fitted with urine sensors which detect when they urinated, this was then associated with a geographical position. IceTag® activity meters were also used to analyse movement and provide a cross reference to the GPS monitoring. The information was then displayed and analysed through a GIS as well as being processed through geo-statistical and standard statistical methods.

Strong and statistically significant behavioural trends emerged from the research in terms of the daily time budget of these animals. The monitoring system proved highly effective in tracking the cows and identifying their activities throughout the 7 day trial period described in this paper. Where the cows urinated could be located and this information could be used to the pattern of urine distribution from the cows. The information would also prove useful in developing restricted grazing and modified fertiliser application strategies.