Dexcel researcher Dr Gwyneth Verkerk told farmers at an open day at the organisation's Scott Farm on Thursday that cows using a herd home as part of research into reducing nitrogen were less likely to lie down and slightly more likely to show signs of lameness.

"I have some concerns around the system that we are using and we have to look at what we can do to alleviate some of the pressures on the animals. We're trying to do good things for the environment but to what extent do the animals have to pay for the cost of nitrogen leaching?"

Dexcel runs a "Tight N" herd of 21 dairy cows used for researching nitrogen reducing strategies at its Newstead farm.

The programme, run on 7ha, aims to produce 1200kg/milksolids per cow with only half the nitrogen leaching of a typical Waikato dairy farm.

The cows were housed in a herd home over winter - a roofed structure with a slatted concrete floor to catch and store effluent to reduce nitrogen leaching.

Attaching pedometers to cows over two weeks, researchers found the cows in the herd home spent 29 per cent of their time lying, compared with 34 per cent for cows not in the home.

Source: Waikato Times