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About
Introducing Jeff Brown (PhD)
Jeff is passionate about farm sustainability and will highlight your good on-farm work to those beyond the farm gate, be they dairy or meat companies, your bank, producer boards, regional councils or the government.
Jeff grew up helping on the neighbour’s dairy farm and a relative’s high country sheep station, so loves getting out into the rural heartland. University study at Otago and Lincoln, and then eight years postdoctoral work in Sweden, have given him both a breadth and depth of skills in agriculture, environmental chemistry, freshwater and soils.
Returning to NZ in 2011 with his Swedish wife and son, Jeff immediately saw the benefits of the Sustainable Nutrient Management programmes from Massey, getting his Advanced Sustainable Nutrient Management as early as 2013.
Jeff has been a Certified Nutrient Management Advisor (CNMA) since 2015, providing quality nutrient management and farm systems advice for dairy, sheep and beef, and arable farms (amongst others). The sustainable re-use of nutrient rich effluents though irrigation (or land-spreading) has been a particular focus during the past decade while working for Fonterra. Getting the balance right so that nutrients are not over applied and the environment is protected is always challenging. Through this work Jeff has gained significant expertise in OverseerFM modelling, analysing the environmental effects of differing farm systems, their impacts on soils, groundwater and surface water, resource consent applications and demonstrating compliance to regulatory bodies.
Jeff has completed both the Intermediate and Advanced Farm Environmental Planning courses from Massey University, the national Freshwater Farm Plan (FWFP) Certifiers training and the regional training for both Southland and Waikato. He is fully up to date regarding farm environment plan (FEP) development plus certification, and uses a number of FEP/FWFP tools to construct tailored action plans for clients to demonstrate enhanced sustainability practices for banks, customers and for regulatory compliance purposes. As a Certified Green House Gas Adviser he can also help GHG benchmark your farm.
Now as Principal Environmental Scientist for FarmENVIRO, Jeff uses his expertise in nutrient management, farm environmental planning, greenhouse gas assessments and sustainability for the benefit of the wider rural community. Be prepared to have existing work celebrated and be challenged to go further! One option to achieve this is through RegenAg practices, in particular multispecies pastures combined with targeted biological additives. Jeff is particularly enthusiastic about these options, as they can get your pasture or crops humming while enabling reductions in fertiliser and other agrichemical inputs, saving you both time and money.
Contact Jeff at FarmENVIRO for advice on increasing both the profitability and environmental performance of your farm, orchard, cropping operation, vineyard or market garden.
Jeff Brown (PhD)
Principal Environmental Scientist
