Land Categories

Land Categories 

To report your nitrogen usage to council and fertiliser usage for Fonterra's Farm Dairy Records, your landholding needs to be split into land categories.  There are two overarching categories, grazed land and ungrazed land. All grazed land on the dairy is subject to the 190kg/ha nitrogen cap. Grazed land is split into three land categories:

• Grazed Pasture - All grazed grassland not intended for harvest. Grazed pasture has a nitrogen cap of 190kg/ha/yr.
• Grazed Forage Crops - Annual forage crops not intended for harvest. Forage crops have no nitrogen cap but are included in the grazed land where average N applied must be 190kg/ha/yr or less. 
• Grazed Harvest Crops - Intermittently grazed crops that are intended for harvest (may include grains, grasses, and trees). Harvest crops where stubble only is grazed are classified as ungrazed land. Grazed harvest crops have no nitrogen cap but are included in the grazed land where average N applied must be 190kg/ha/yr or less.

Grazed pasture and grazed harvest crops will be reported together under an overarching category grazed non-forage crops. If a paddock is in grazed forage at any point during the reporting year, all paddock applications will be included in the grazed forage category for council reporting due to the legislation.

Ungrazed land refers to land that is used for purposes other than grazing for all or part of the year. This includes laneways, dairy sheds and ungrazed harvest crops. Nitrogen applied to ungrazed land is not capped and is not included in the average nitrogen calculation for the landholding. 

For the Fonterra Farm Dairy Records, the grazed pasture category will be used to determine which applications were applied to pasture to calculate the highest pastoral application rate of nitrogen products.

Paddocks on the farm can be classified in different land categories during the year. For example if a paddock is used for both grazing and silage/baleage/hay, it is classified as pasture when grazed, and as ungrazed land once grazing has stopped until harvest. 

Land Category Calendar

In May 2025 we introduced a separate land category calendar for assigning land categories to your landholdings. The new calendar runs June to June to allow for both the July to June nitrogen reporting period and the June to May reporting period for Fonterra Farm Dairy Records.

To assign land categories to your landholdings

Once you have completed creating your landholding.

• Go to Reports > Land Categories.
• Select the areas you wish to assign land categories.
  These can be selected from the map or the list, when selecting multiple areas, all areas must have the same information missing to be able to assign at the same time.
• Select Assign.
• Select the Land category from the drop-down list.
• Select a Start and End date.
  The dates will default to the 1st June to 30th June if this is the first date entry for that area.
• Add a Note if required. This is for your own reference and will not be included in reporting data.
• Select Add to add an additional land category. 
• Select Save once complete.

Once the land categories have been assigned you can view create your reports in the Compliance reporting menu and view the calculated information.

Copying land categories from the previous year 

To copy the previous year's land categories to this year 

• If you have any data you wish to change from the previous year, enter this first. Copy will only fill in areas that are missing from the calendar.
• Once you have entered any changes, select the copy button, located next to the print icon in the top right under Edit.
  
• Select the year you wish to copy from the drop down.
  
• Select Copy to confirm.

Filtering the land category calendar

The filter allows you to filter the land category calendar by land category or you can opt to hide areas that are 100% assigned for the year to see where any gaps are. The filter is located next to the copy button in the top right hand side of the menu.

Printing 

You can print a table version of the land category calendar for reference. This will include the areas, land categories and dates the area was in the land category. As the calendar runs for 12 months you may see data from the last time period if there is any cross over. 

 For the nitrogen report, you can still use the same process as 2023/2024 as listed below. From October 2025, only the land category calendar will be available.

• Go to Reports > Nitrogen Reporting.
• Select your landholding.
• Select New report.
• Select a Reporting year.
• Enter the Contact details of the farm operator and click Save.
• Select the paddocks and/or management zones that you wish to assign land categories to from the list or the map.
• Select Assign.
• Select the Land category from the drop-down list.
• Select a Start and End date.
  The dates will default to the nitrogen reporting year (1st July - 30th June) if this is the first date entry for that area.
• Add a Note if required. This is for your own reference and will not be included in reporting data.
• Select Add to add an additional land category. 
• Select Save once complete.

Once the land categories have been assigned you can view these in a table or calendar format. 

Editing Land Categories 

If you need to edit a land category:

• Select the area you wish to edit from the table, calendar or map.
• Select Edit.
• Update the information as required.
• Select Save to make your changes. 

The video below takes you through creating a landholding as well as creating and editing the categories within a landholding from the nitrogen reporting flow. A video will be available soon for our new calendar view

Learn more about nitrogen reporting here.