Bananas on Northland dairy farms: An option for forage supply and effluent cycling?

This project investigated if growing bananas on Northland dairy farms has potential to increase the economic and environmental sustainability of the dairy enterprise, by: • Measuring the timing, quantity and quality of growth of an existing banana plot • Test whether banana leaves and stems are nutritionally appropriate as cattle feed • Investigate if bananas can effectively take up nutrients in effluent • Present data to the community through a field day and a Rural Delivery story It found, at a farm scale, the use of bananas in a farm effluent system could: • reduce the requirement for bought-in feed during summer • reduce the area and budget needed for effluent management • reduce the gradual overload of soil nutrients from effluent application, particularly potassium • reduce the area needed for cropping each year