Sustainable water utilization on Ontario dairy farms by Alexandra Devon Robinson A Thesis ...

85 Pages·2015·3.97 MB·English

Sustainable water utilization on Ontario dairy farms

by

Alexandra Devon Robinson

A Thesis
presented to
The University of Guelph

In partial fulfillment of requirements
for the degree of
Master of Science
in
Environmental Sciences

Guelph, Ontario, Canada
© Alexandra Robinson, May 2015
ABSTRACT

SUSTAINABLE WATER UTILIZATION ON ONTARIO DAIRY FARMS

Alexandra Robinson Advisor:
University of Guelph, 2015 Dr. Robert Gordon

Water-use as well as sustainable water practices and technologies on 17 Ontario dairy operations
were studied over 20 months using continuous flow DLJ Water Meters to measure water-use in
the dairy facilities including cow consumption, milkhouse and parlour usage with the goal of
quantifying and assessing the amount of water utilized on an Ontario dairy farm. The producers
were interviewed regarding their stance on water-use on their own operations as well as
throughout the industry with the goal of gauging producers’ opinions and motivations behind
water utilization as well as future environmental and industry sustainability. Average water-use
for an Ontario free stall automated milking operation was found to be significantly greater than
the average water usage for an Ontario free stall parlour operation or tie stall operation.
However, producers of free stall operations were found to be more willing and more likely to
implement sustainable water-use strategies without government incentive.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This thesis was made possible with the help and support of a stupendous group of people. Firstly,
I would like to thank my advisor, Dr. Robert Gordon for all of his effort, support, and
encouragement. I would also like to thank my advisory committee, Dr. Vern Osborne, Dr. Tim
Rennie, Dr. Andy VanderZaag, and Mr. Tim Nelson. They imparted such great knowledge with
their diverse backgrounds and were an excellent support system. I would also like to thank the 17
amazing dairy farmers who were a part of this study, since it definitely could not have been
possible without them! Finally, I wish to thank my insanely supportive family and friends, which
I couldn’t have gotten through these past two years without. To everyone who contributed even a
small helping hand to the success of this study, I thank you. Cheers!
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Abstract ......................................................................................................................................... ii
Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................................... iii
List of Tables................................................................................................................................ vi
List of Figures ............................................................................................................................. vii

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION................................................................................................ 1
1.1 Research Objectives ............................................................................................................. 3
1.2 Hypotheses ........................................................................................................................... 4

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW................................................................................... 5
2.1 Ontario Water Usage............................................................................................................. 5
2.1.1 Policies, Initiatives, and Protection Acts....................................................................... 5
2.1.2 Issues with Water Access............................................................................................... 7
2.2 Dairy Farm Water Utilization............................................................................................... 7
2.2.1Processes of Water Utilization........................................................................................ 8
2.3 Dairy Water Conservation.................................................................................................. 12
2.3.1 Conservation Technologies and Practices................................................................... 13
2.3.2 Dairy Water Conservation Worldwide........................................................................ 15
2.4 Producers’ Views on Water................................................................................................ 16
2.5 Summary and Research Needs............................................................................................ 18

CHAPTER 3: QUANTIFICATION OF WATER UTILIZATION....................................... 20
3.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 20
3.2 Methodology ...................................................................................................................... 21
3.2.1 Study Population.......................................................................................................... 21
3.2.2 Water Meters................................................................................................................ 22
3.2.3 Data Analysis .............................................................................................................. 25
3.3 Results and Discussion ...................................................................................................... 26
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3.4 Conclusion ......................................................................................................................... 39

CHAPTER 4: DAIRY FARM WATER UTILIZATION SURVEY...................................... 40
4.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 40
4.2 Methodology ...................................................................................................................... 42
4.2.1 Study Population.......................................................................................................... 42
4.2.2 Farm Survey Questionnaire......................................................................................... 43
4.2.3 Data Analysis .............................................................................................................. 45
4.3 Results and Discussion ...................................................................................................... 46
4.4 Conclusion ......................................................................................................................... 59

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................ 61
5.1 Summary ............................................................................................................................ 61
5.2 Recommendations .............................................................................................................. 62

CHAPTER 6: REFERENCES................................................................................................... 67

CHAPTER 7: APPENDICES.................................................................................................... 72
Appendix A: DLJ Water Meter ................................................................................................ 72
Appendix B: Farm Survey Questionnaire ................................................................................ 73
Appendix C: Cross-tabulation Short Forms ............................................................................. 76
Appendix D: Map of Dairy Farm and Weather Station Locations .......................................... 77
Appendix E: Regional Temperatures and Weather Station Locations .................................... 78

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LIST OF TABLES

Table 2.1 Past literature of on-farm dairy water-use values....................................................... 13

Table 3.1 Operational information for 17 Ontario dairy farms utilized for this study................24
Table 3.2 CanWest DHI 2014 data averages for 17 Ontario dairy farms....................................24
Table 3.3 Average daily water-use on 17 Ontario dairy operations from August 2013 through
December 2014 with a comparison to average milk production.................................28
Table 3.4 Average daily water-use on 17 Ontario dairy operations grouped by milking system
from August 2013 through December 2014................................................................28
Table 3.5 Variance analysis of the average water-use of 10 free stall robotic facilities, free stall
parlour facilities, and tie stall facilities in Ontario from August 2013 through
December 2014...........................................................................................................29
Table 3.6 Tukey Test results of average water-use of 10 free stall robotic facilities, free stall
parlour facilities, and tie stall facilities in Ontario from August 2013 through
December 2014...........................................................................................................30
Table 3.7 Average monthly water-use on 10 Ontario dairy operations from August 2013
through December 2014..............................................................................................32
Table 3.8 Variance analysis of the average monthly water-use of 10 dairy operations and
seasonal temperature in Ontario from August 2013 through December 2014............32
Table 3.9 Tukey Test results of average water-use of 10 dairy operations and seasonal
temperature in Ontario from August 2013 through December 2014..........................32
Table 3.10 Past literature of on-farm dairy water-use values with comparison to this study.......39

Table 4.1 Likert scale values utilized in the Farm Survey Questionnaire coding.......................45
Table 4.2 Qualitative open-ended question trends according to the Research Project Matrix
Tool.............................................................................................................................52
Table 4.3 Farm Survey Questionnaire Results............................................................................53
Table 4.4 Likert scale survey question response percentages.....................................................55
Table 4.5 SPSS cross-tabulation of Farm Survey Questionnaire, operation information, and
CanWest DHI data for 17 Ontario dairy producers.....................................................58
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LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 3.1 Daily water-use on 7 Ontario free stall parlour operations from August 2013 through
December 2014...........................................................................................................36
Figure 3.2 Daily water-use on 2 Ontario free stall robotic operations from August 2013 through
December 2014...........................................................................................................36
Figure 3.3 Daily water-use on 2 Ontario tie stall operations from August 2013 through
December 2014...........................................................................................................37
Figure 3.4 Daily water-use in the milkhouse on 2 Ontario free stall operations from August 2013
through December 2014..............................................................................................37
Figure 3.5 Daily water-use in the milkhouse on 5 Ontario tie stall operations from August 2013
through December 2014..............................................................................................38
Figure 3.6 Average monthly water-use on 10 Ontario dairy farms from August 2013 through
December 2014 with standard error............................................................................38

Figure 4.1 Qualitative open-ended question trends of 17 Ontario dairy producers......................52
Figure 4.2 Producers’ answers to the Farm Survey Questionnaire question about water
conservation strategies practiced currently on their farm...........................................55
Figure 4.3 Producers’ answers to the Farm Survey Questionnaire question about their main
driver behind water conservation strategies practiced on their farm..........................56
Figure 4.4 Producers’ answers to the Farm Survey Questionnaire question about if water
conservation is a priority on their farm.......................................................................56
Figure 4.5 Producers’ answers to the Farm Survey Questionnaire question “Does the impact of
possible future water restrictions concern you?”........................................................57
Figure 4.5 Producers’ answers to the Farm Survey Questionnaire question “Should we have
provincial programs specifically to support on-farm water conservation?”...............57
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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

The production demand on the agricultural industry is constantly increasing with the growth of
the human population. This is creating pressure on water resources, which then leads to water
resource management issues all around the world (Wall and Marzall, 2007). Water is a vital
agricultural resource; therefore its effective use provides a means to improve the environmental
sustainability of the agricultural industry. Water is one of the most important factors of dairy
farms. The water that is consumed by cows is essential for milk production and the water that is
used to wash, clean, and cool features of the dairy facility are essential for a dairy operation to
function properly.

The total water footprint of the dairy industry makes up 19% of the global footprint of all animal
production, second only to the beef industry at 33% (Mekonnen and Hoekstra, 2012). It has been
estimated that the water footprint of milk production is 1000 m3 tonne of milk-1 (Mekonnon and
Hoekstra, 2012). There are considerations that go into the water footprint calculation that are not
wholly controllable by the farmer including processes such as the feed production process for the
cattle. However, this overall water footprint represents a substantial amount of water and the
water that can be conserved throughout the production system on-farm can have a significant
effect (House et al., 2014). Water is utilized in many aspects of dairy production within the dairy
barn including; cow consumption, washing of the milking equipment and milking parlour,
cleaning of the pipelines, washing down of the holding area, and cooling of the milk (Brugger,
2007).
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With the agricultural industry as one of the leading freshwater consumers in Canada, and dairy
operations as significant users, it is important to improve dairy farmers’ awareness of their direct
and indirect water usage (Hoekstra and Chapagain, 2007). Water is abundant throughout Canada,
making it seem like an inexhaustible resource, yet there have been issues with supply in the past
and it will certainly become a bigger issue in the future (de Loë et al., 2001). This trend may lead
to more active regulation and monitoring of water-use in all agricultural sectors, which could put
a great amount of pressure, especially financially, on producers.

Agricultural water conservation is an extremely important issue due to greater scrutiny being
placed on more effective use of water resources in agricultural production systems (Robinson,
2006). With more awareness of water conservation comes knowledge and in turn, positive
action. By gauging how much water is utilized on Ontario dairy operations as well as producers’
opinions on sustainable water-use considerations, educated decisions and adjustments can be
made to improve producer awareness of water efficiency and conservation, leading to sustainable
water management.

The second chapter of this thesis draws on the available literature to identify the current state of
knowledge with regards to water utilization, quantification, and sustainability in the dairy sector.
Components of Ontario agricultural water-use, specifically in the dairy sector, are discussed.
These include the elements of a dairy operation that utilize water, policies and incentives
available to Ontario farmers, Ontario freshwater access, as well as dairy operation comparisons
and contrasts from other areas of the world. These components are then used to delve deeper into
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current water-use efficient practices and technologies that are being utilized on dairy operations
and farmers’ opinions and observations on sustainable water-use and on-farm water
conservation.

The third chapter of this thesis describes monitoring that was conducted on 17 Ontario dairy
operations, which included assessing their water-use over a 20-month period. The fourth chapter
describes a survey of the farm managers from these same 17 operations in which they were
interviewed about their farm, their water-use, and their opinions on water conservation in the
dairy industry, province, and country.

Finally, results from both experiments are compared and contrasted in the fifth chapter and
recommendations are described.

1.1 Research Objectives

The primary goal of this research is to quantify the amount of water utilized on a range of
Ontario dairy operations. The secondary goal is to gauge Ontario-based dairy producers’ current
attitudes and priorities around water conservation.

Specific objectives were to:

(i) Determine water-use for a number of different Ontario-based dairy operations for the purpose