Future Dairy
The Future Dairy Living Lab consists of two mini-farms, each designed to explore future dairy farming options which meet the environmental, social and economic challenges facing farmers.
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Aiming to enhance the landscape and promote biodiversity and resilience in soils, plants, animals and people, both farmlets’ goals are to reduce inputs, improve recycling of nutrients and reduce waste, while also maintaining or improving profitability.
Our farm-lets have established a future need to enhance the landscape and promote biodiversity and resilience in soils, plants, animals and people and to reflect the values of New Zealanders. Both properties have adopted either a conventional best practice approach (Best Now) or alternative future design approach (Dairy Future) to achieve these outcomes. Decision rules on both farms apply science-based principles. Or where the science is limited, test new approaches and measure the outcomes.
Students, researchers and public and private enterprises are encouraged to engage with the Dairy Futures Living Lab, and invited to propose, test and monitor ideas and solutions which solve real-world problems on a platform that allows for monitoring and extension of those outcomes. Several of Lincoln University’s agricultural courses have integrated the Future Dairy Lab into their learning.
Living Laboratory projects are offered as part of undergraduate or postgraduate courses or postgraduate research, in spaces both on- and off-campus.
The following courses integrate or have integrated Future Dairy into their learning:
One of the key objectives of the Future Dairy Living Lab is to provide a platform for research and industry engagement to work together to solve the challenges facing agriculture.
Find out more about the research on the Future Dairy Living Lab website.
Future Dairy Living Lab website
The Future Dairy Living Lab consists of two mini farms or farmlets (currently 12 ha each) within the larger Lincoln University Research Dairy Farm (LURDF). The LURDF is located on Weedons Road, Lincoln.