Ballance

Developed by Ballance and AgResearch, MitAgator is a breakthrough farm environment planning tool for sustainable farming.

In an effort to improve water quality, many regional councils are putting environmental compliance measures in place. As a result, farmers are now required to be farming within limits by 2025. Designed specifically for New Zealand farms, MitAgator is a world-leading geo-spatial tool that makes it easy to plan, cost out and implement the necessary changes. It makes it possible to farm more sustainably without losing focus on productivity and profits.

Identify Critical Source Areas

Built on a detailed farm map, MitAgator’s software offers a comprehensive overview of nitrogen, phosphorous, sediment and E. coli loss on your farm.

The MitAgator Risk Map brings your OVERSEER nutrient budget to life, giving a spatial view of where losses are occurring and identifying Critical Source Areas (CSAs) around your farm. Targeting these Critical Source Areas (CSAs) first will have the biggest impact on improving your environmental performance.

Create a clear and actionable plan

After identifying your farm’s Critical Source Areas, MitAgator compares the effectiveness and cost of different mitigation scenarios. This allows you to weigh up the alternatives and confidently choose an option that best suits your budget.

Twenty-four different scenarios are currently included in the MitAgator programme, from stream fencing and riparian planting to constructed wetlands, grass buffer strips and feed pads. While some scenarios are tailored to specific farm types (dairy, dry stock or deer), the majority are suitable for all three systems.

Farm Environment Plan and compliance

After validating the mitigation scenarios for your farm, a Farm Sustainability Services specialist will integrate MitAgator’s risk maps and mitigation scenarios into a comprehensive Farm Environment Plan for compliance. This will clearly identify the costs and impacts as well as highlight the good management practices already in place on your farm and identify the ones that can be worked towards.

By removing the guesswork around contaminant loss and the cost of different mitigation strategies, MitAgator offers farmers more control, greater certainty and the ability to farm within limits for many years to come.

To find out more, we invite you to get in touch with our Farm Sustainability Services team. | Email us