A robotic Havelock North dairy farm is a model to mitigate pollution from the proposed Ruataniwha Water Storage Scheme, says Te Mata Mushroom owner Michael Whittaker.
He expects to have a barn-fed 120-cow dairy in operation next year, on the same property as the mushroom farm which adjoins suburban Havelock North.
It will also be a tourist operation, with viewing platforms to watch cows wander in to be milked whenever they wanted.
He said barn feeding mitigated dairy farming pollution because waste was easily captured inside, rather than leaching into waterways.
"Barned operations, which we believe it is the way New Zealand has to go, is a very good way of mitigating those downstream effects," he said.
"You capture the waste and get greater productivity, but more importantly you can have a more balanced farming system. The cows don't necessarily need to be inside 24/7 - even if they were inside for 50 per cent of the time you are reducing 50 per cent of your nitrogen loading.
"We believe there is hybrid model for the Central Hawke's Bay area."
Barn feeding reduced the farm footprint while utilising the "massive resource of water" available from the irrigation scheme.
"So you take the food source to the cows, rather than letting the cows go to the food source and creating the waste along the way."
Newly-retired Federated Farmers Hawke's Bay dairy chairman David Hunt said he believed the robotic milking plant would be the first one in Hawke's Bay.
"A lot of the more progressive farmers have already seen them but I'm sure it will create a lot of interest," he said.
Barn-feeding dairying was practised in the South Island but it was a lot more expensive "so you've got to get at least twice the production per cow to pay the bills".
"It is not as simple as saying let's build a shed and all problems are solved, because the cost of building them is horrendous."
He said mixing field feeding with barn feeding did not always work - cows were creatures of habit and when a routine changed "production crashes".
Te Mata Mushrooms in Havelock North started a multi-million-dollar development last year under the new ownership of Mr Whittaker, who returned to New Zealand Michael after founding multi-national Atlantis Healthcare.
The business still has the involvement of the previous owners, with Martin Speeden remaining as managing director.
Te Mata Mushrooms hit headlines last year when it introduced vitamin D mushrooms to the market after importing ultra-violet light technology, which stimulates the fungi to produce the vitamin naturally while heading to market.