Farming experts urge govt to upgrade Overseer, not abandon it

Overseer was never intended to be the go-to regulatory tool for managing farm pollution (Image: Depositphotos).

Tue, 24 Aug 2021

Users of the country’s leading farm pollution management tool are wondering what else Wellington is going to throw at them after the model was panned in an independent review. Known as Overseer, the tool was developed in the 1990s to help farmers optimise fertiliser application. Because the model provides estimates of nitrogen and phosphate fertilisers being lost from pasture systems, Waikato’s regional council began using it in 2005 as a way of regulating how many nutrients were leaching into Taupō’s water catchment...

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