Abstract
New Zealand dairy farmers are facing increasing pressure to reduce nutrient losses from grazing ruminants to the environment. Research suggests that the major source of nutrient loss is animal excreta which, for nitrogen (N), relates to cattle urine in particular. Most models used to describe N cycling and predict loss assume homogeneous distribution of urine patches across grazing areas. This study aims to provide baseline knowledge of the temporal and spatial distribution of N by monitoring the urination behaviour of individual dairy cows on a commercial farm using remote precision tools. The study took place on No 4 Dairy Farm, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand during early autumn in March 2009. Thirty cows in late lactation, balanced for milking order and age, from a herd of 180 milking cows, were fitted with global positioning system collars and urine sensors for seven consecutive days. The herd was milked twice a day and rotationally grazed, without supplementation. Cows were rotated through 12 paddocks, each ~1.1 ha. The majority of urine (85 % of total) was deposited on pasture, while 10 % of total urine deposits were captured in the holding yard and milking shed. Kernel density estimates indicated that urine patch distribution was not homogeneous, thus there was aggregation of urine patches within particular areas of the paddocks. Moderate correlations between the time spent in a location and urine patch density provided evidence that the time spent in a particular location was a factor affecting the density of urine patches. Substantial variation in results between paddocks suggested that paddock characteristics did not play a major role in determining urine distribution patterns in this study.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aland, A., Lidfors, L., & Ekesbo, I. (2002). Diurnal distribution of dairy cow defecation and urination. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 78, 43–54.
Baddeley, A. (2010). Analysing spatial point patterns in R. Rockhamption: CSIRO.
Betteridge, K., Andrewes, W. G. K., & Sedcole, J. R. K. (1986). Intake and excretion of nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus by grazing steers. Journal of Agricultural Science, 106, 393–404.
Betteridge, K., Costall, D., Balladur, S., Upsdell, M., & Umemura, K. (2010a). Urine distribution and grazing behaviour of female sheep and cattle grazing a steep New Zealand hill pasture. Animal Production Science, 50, 624–629.
Betteridge, K., Costall, D., Hoogendoor, C., Carter, M., & Griffiths, W. (2007). GPS and urine sensor for sheep and cattle to improve nitrogen models and identify sources areas for targeted mitigation management. In M. G. Trotter, E. B. Garraway & D. W. Lamb (Eds.), Proceedings of the 11th annual Australasian symposium on precision agriculture (p. 29). New Zealand: Lincoln University.
Betteridge, K., Hoogendoorn, C., Costall, D., Carter, M., & Griffiths, W. (2010b). Sensors for detecting and logging spatial distribution of urine from grazing female cattle and sheep. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, 73, 66–73.
Botheras, N. A. (2006). The behaviour and welfare of grazing cows (Bos taurus): Effects of time away from pasture and position in the milking order (PhD thesis). University of Melbourne, Australia.
Clark, C. E. F., McLeod, K. L. M., Glassey, C. B., Gregorini, P., Costall, D. A., Betteridge, K., et al. (2010). Strategically reducing time on pasture: Dairy cow intake, production, welfare and excretory behaviour. Journal of Dairy Science, 93(5), 2280–2286.
Dairy NZ. (2008). New Zealnd Dairy Statistics 2008-09. Hamilton: Statistcs LIC.
Di, H. J., & Cameron, K. C. (2002). Nitrate leaching in temperate agroecosystems: sources, factors and mitigating strategies. Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems, 64, 237–256.
Draganova, I. G. (2012). Nutrient distribution and behaviour of livestock in an intensively managed dairy system. (PhD Thesis). Massey University, New Zealand.
Eriksen, L., & Kristensen, K. (2001). Nutrient excretion by outdoor pigs: a case study of distribution, utilization and potential for environmental impact. Soil Use and Management, 17, 21–29.
Franzluebbers, A. J., Stueddemann, J. A., & Schomberg, H. H. (2000). Spatial distribution of soil carbon and nitrogen pools under grazed tall fescue. Soil Science Society Journal, 64, 635–639.
Gadbury, J. C. (1975). Some preliminary field observations on the order of entry of cows into herringbone parlour. Applied Animal Ethology, 1, 275–281.
Gibb, M. J., Huckle, C. A., & Huthall, R. (2002). Effects of level of concentrate supplementation on grazing behaviour and performance by lactating dairy cows grazing continuously stocked grass swards. Animal Science, 74, 319–335.
Gibb, M. J., Huckle, C. A., Huthall, R., & Rook, A. J. (1998). Effect of time of day on grazing behaviour by lactating dairy cows. Grass & Forage Science, 53, 41–46.
Haining, R. (2003). Spatial data analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Hassall, S. A., Ward, W. R., & Murray, R. D. (1993). Effects of lameness on the behaviour of cows during summer. The Veterinary Record, 132, 578–580.
Haynes, R. J., & Williams, P. H. (1993). Nutrient cycling and soil fertility in the grazed pasture ecosystem. Advances in Agronomy, 49, 119–199.
Krisp, J. M., Peters, S., Murphy, C. E., & Fan, H. (2009). Visual bandwidth selection for kernel density maps. Journal of Geoinformation, 5, 445–454.
Ledgard, S. F. (2001). Nitrogen cycling in low input legume-based agriculture, with emphasis on legume/grass pasture. Plant and Soil, 228, 43–59.
Matthew, C., Tillman, R. W., Hedley, M. J., & Thompson, M. (1988). Observations on the relationship between soil fertility, pasture botanical composition and pasture growth rate; for a North Island Lowland Pasture. Proceedings of the New Zealand Grasslands Association, 49, 141–145.
McDowell, R. W. (2006). Phosphorus and sediment loss in a catchment with winter forage grazing off cropland by dairy cattle. Journal of Environmental Quality, 35(2), 575–583.
McGechan, M. B., & Topp, C. F. E. (2004). Modelling environmental impact of deposition of excreted nitrogen by grazing dairy cows. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 103, 149–164.
Mills, K. J., Patterson, B. R., & Murray, D. L. (2006). Effects of variable sampling frequencies on GPS transmitter efficiency and estimated wolf home range size and movement distance. Wildlife Society Bulletin, 34(5), 1463–1469.
Monaghan, R. M., Hedley, M. J., Di, H. J., McDowell, R. W., Cameron, K. C., & Ledgard, S. F. (2007). Nutrient management in New Zealand pastures—Recent developments and future issues. New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research, 50, 181–201.
Orr, R. J., Rutter, S. M., Pennning, P. D., & Rook, A. J. (2001). Matching grass supply to grazing patterns for dairy cows. Grass & Forage Science, 56, 352–361.
Oudshoorn, F. W., Kristensen, T., & Nadimi, E. S. (2008). Dairy cow defecation and urination frequency and spatial distribution in relation to time-limited grazing. Livestock Science, 113(1), 62–73.
Petersen, R. G., Lucas, H. L., & Woodhouse, W. W. (1956). The distribution of excreta by freely grazing cattle and its effect on pasture fertility: 1. Excretal distribution. Agronomy Journal, 48, 440–444.
Pleasants, A. B., Shorten, P. R., & Wake, G. C. (2007). The distribution of urine deposited on a pasture from grazing animals. Journal of Agricultural Science, 145, 81–86.
Saggar, S., Mackay, A. D., Hedley, M. J., Lambert, M. G., & Clark, D. A. (1990). A nutrient transfer model to explain the fate of phosphorus and sulphur in a grazed hill country pasture. Agricultural Ecosystems and Environment, 30, 295–315.
Sauter-Louis, C. M., Chesterton, R. N., & Pfeiffer, D. U. (2004). Behavioural characteristics of dairy cows with lameness in Taranaki, New Zealand. New Zealand Veterinary Journal, 52, 103–108.
Schoumans, O. F., Silgram, M., Walvoott, D. J. J., Groenendijk, P., Bouraoui, F., Andersen, H. E., et al. (2009). Evaluation of the directness of eight model applications to assess diffuse annual nutrient losses from agricultural land. Journal of Environmental Monitoring, 11, 540–553.
Shorten, P. R., & Pleasants, A. B. (2007). A stochastic model of urinary nitrogen and water flow in grassland soil in New Zealand. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 120(2–4), 145–152.
Stuth, J. W. (1991). Foraging behaviour. In R. K. Heitschmidt & J. W. Stuth (Eds.), Grazing management: An ecological perspective. Portland: Timber Press.
Swain, D. L., Wark, T., & Bishop-Hurley, G. J. (2008). Using high fix rate GPS data to determine the relationships between fix rate, prediction error and patch selection. Ecological Modelling, 212, 273–279.
Wheeler, D. M., Ledgard, S. F., & DeKlein, C. A. M. (2008). Using the OVERSEER nutrient budget model to estimate on-farm greenhouse gas emissions. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture, 48, 99–103.
White, S. L., Sheffield, R. E., Washburn, S. P., King, L. D., & Green, J. T., Jr. (2001). Spatial and time distribution of dairy cattle excreta in an intensive pasture system. Journal of Environmental Quality, 30, 2180–2187.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Draganova, I., Yule, I., Stevenson, M. et al. The effects of temporal and environmental factors on the urination behaviour of dairy cows using tracking and sensor technologies. Precision Agric 17, 407–420 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11119-015-9427-4
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11119-015-9427-4