An agricultural company worried at the amount of nitrogen leaching from pasture has invented a spray device to attach to the tails of dairy cattle.
The Tail-Activated Urine-Incorporation of Nitrogen Extender system will fire a blast of nitrogen inhibitor into the urine patch every time the beast lifts its tail
to answer the call of nature.
A switch will be mounted under the tail to trigger spraycans attached to the animal's ankle.
The device was invented by Summit-Quinphos, and the Government has just granted $200,000 in research funding to advance the invention.
State-owned science companies HortResearch, AgResearch, Crop and Food and Landcare will be co-ordinated by Allan Gillingham, who recently retired from AgResearch.
Though cynical cockies may think it is an April Fool's Day hoax scientist Jamie Blennerhasset of Summit-Quinphos insists the development is bona fide.
"I can confirm that it is actually real. We have working models."
He said the system was specifically designed for the dairy industry, as that was where "a very large percentage" of the nitrogen-leaching problem occurred.
Other anti-leaching agents - such as top-dressing applications - already exist, but are often not cost-effective.
Such treatments cover entire pastures, when only 25 per cent of that area may actually be made up of urine patches in any given year.
Most of the nitrogen added to soils comes from animal wastes.
On average only 10.5 per cent of the nitrogen in grass, silage or other feeds is converted by grazing animals into milk, meat, eggs or wool - the remainder is excreted in dung and urine.
According to Mr Blennerhasset, a typical cow urinates 10 times a day, each time applying a massive dose of nitrogen to about a quarter of a square metre, at a rate equivalent to as much as 1000kg/ha nitrogen.
He said the device need not be worn by the cow all year, as nitrogen-leaching rates varied seasonally.
