Adoption of plantain within New Zealand farming systems

In New Zealand, plantain has been incorporated into the pasture forage base in three ways: as a short-term pure crop; as a major component in “herb mixes” that include clovers and chicory; and as a minor component in perennial grass-based swards. All types are typically grazed in-situ. Given the incentive to optimise the plantain proportion in livestock diet to mitigate nitrogen losses and the observed lack of persistence in grass-dominant pasture over time, there is a need to use various pasture types strategically across a farm system to ensure a long-term sustainable contribution of plantain to feed intake. The inclusion of plantain in the forage base should be relatively straightforward since farmers are already familiar with establishing and managing forage crops and mixed-species pastures. However, there are still technical questions to answer and incentives to implement before we can achieve the region-wide adoption necessary to result in a measurable impact on water quality. The Tararua District, on the east coast of the North Island of New Zealand, represents a useful case study of adoption in a strong dairy farming region. Some underpinning elements for successful adoption were in place: 1) national agronomic experience in using a plantain cultivar released in 1996; and 2) regulatory push in terms of reducing N leaching losses on farms. However, other initiatives were required to see meaningful progress: provision of data from local dairy farm systems, focussed on the impact on forage supply/quality; a targeted extension program by a trusted sector leader agency (DairyNZ); individual farmer risk-taking and leadership in establishing and managing new crops and pastures. After three years, awareness is well embedded in the rural community and approximately 30% of dairy farms within the district have started to use plantain.