Dairying, science and sustainability – a context for learning

Lincoln University has produced resources for year 11 students that focus on dairying in New Zealand. The purpose of the resources is to increase students’ understanding about the science and the management practices being carried out on dairy farms. They explore the costs and benefits of dairy farming so students can discuss what the industry is doing well, where it needs to improve and whether the dairying industry is sustainable.

Lincoln University Dairy Farm

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This is a 186-hectare demonstration dairy farm aiming to maximise sustainable, profitable farming by optimising productivity, environmental footprint and animal welfare targets. The farm provides demonstrations of successful dairy farm practices for the wider dairy community.

Rights: Racheal Bryant, Lincoln University

Resources designed for making meaning and critical thinking

This suite of resources has a variety of topics that you can choose from and integrate into your teaching. Lincoln University wants to support teachers and increase interest in the areas that it specialises in. The lesson plans include activities, videos, teacher notes and additional readings. The resources are curated in the interactive planning pathway below.

The resources include a range of learning experiences to increase engagement, make the topic memorable and enable students to practise different skills to build in-depth understanding.

Prior learning

The resources have been designed on the basis that students have had limited interaction with or knowledge of dairy farming. It is good to gain an idea of which students have a rural background and seek input from them around how they do things on their farm. Different farms have different ways of doing things so there can be variation within farms and regions. The resources endeavour to provide a broad overview of the industry.

Collecting data from cows

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A range of data is collected through animal studies on the Lincoln University Dairy Farm.

Rights: Racheal Bryant, Lincoln University

New Zealand Curriculum links

Dairy, science and sustainability resources support learning in multiple curriculum areas.

In science, the resources support these big ideas:

• Science offers ways for ākonga to engage with issues and opportunities at personal, community or global level.

• Science offers a way for ākonga to interpret representations, critique evidence and communicate knowledge.

In agricultural and horticultural science, the resources support these big ideas:

• Agriculture and horticulture connect places of purposeful production with people’s wellbeing.

• Primary producers engage in manaakitanga as they manage life processes and the growing environment.

• Primary production systems must be sustainable.

In geography, the resources support these big ideas:

• Environments shape people and people shape environments.

• Perspectives and power influence environments.

Cow data

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This is an example of the daily cow data collected over a week. It provides data about what the cows are doing, such as eating and resting. This information helps to inform managers about the wellbeing of the cows.

Rights: Racheal Bryant, Lincoln University

Field trips 

It is recommended that a farm visit is organised so students can use a specific case study to see which management practices are being carried out on a farm in their region.

Dairy farm systems can vary throughout the country due to size, soils, feed, management practices and location – all factors that have a significant impact on the environmental outcomes.

It is also worth noting that, at certain times of the year, dairy farms may be too busy to host students or there may not be a lot happening on the farm. Term 1 is best suited for field trips – farmers are still milking and calves have been weaned. Term 2 marks the beginning of winter and wet weather, and most herds will not be milking. The latter half of term 3 is also suitable for field trips – calving is close to completion and most farms will be milking. If you are in the Lincoln area and want to visit the Lincoln University Dairy Farm, visit their outreach page for workshops and dates.

Research and demonstration farms

Lincoln University has multiple farms used for research and demonstrating best practice. The Lincoln University Dairy Farm is a demonstration farm so it needs to make profit while also finding ways to be more sustainable. The outcomes and management practices are then shared with farmers and industry so they can be adopted and adapted to their farms. Information about these farms are in the Useful links section below.

Lincoln University

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Lincoln University is New Zealand’s specialist agriculturally-based university. The University’s qualifications range from certificate level through to PhD.

Rights: Lincoln University