Awatuna farmers Phil and Donna Cram are a sunny, go-ahead couple.
It shows in their everyday talk about their children, the management of their 117 hectare dairy farm, and their dealings with others. It especially shows in their musings about the benefits of riparian fencing and planting, including beautification of their land and easier management of stock.
The couple joined the Taranaki Regional Council's riparian management programme about 10 years ago and have planted and ordered each year, in good times and bad, to meet its 2020 completion target.
It's been a family affair, with their two children, James and Aleisha, hands-on from the start. Donna hopes the pair - and Opunake High School Enviro Fitness students who helped with the planting as a fundraiser - will be able to see and appreciate their efforts for years to come.
"Our children are really involved with the planting. Hopefully they'll appreciate it when they see it growing. That would be great," she says.
The Crams, who milk 270 cows, try to order about 600 plants a year. Having fenced 2280 metres and planted 3285 metres of streambanks, they've done 100 per cent of their fencing and 61 per cent of their planting. That figure would be higher, but they bought some land that needed extra riparian work.
"I think you've got to just keep chipping away at this," says Phil. "If you just, even in the bad times, take a small piece of stream that needs planting out, rather than a huge piece, and just keep chipping away."
The benefits to date have included better ease of stock management, in that their cows now don't disappear elsewhere or risk getting stuck in a creek, says Phil.
"Everything's obviously 100 per cent fenced now, so there's no stock wandering around, being places they shouldn't be, and aesthetically ... it's a lot nicer to look at now, and it's got to be better for the health of the stream," he says.
"Certainly with the winter rains when the erosion comes through - the big floods - the stabilisation of the creek-banks is way better than it used to be. There's not the erosion once it's been planted out and is established."
Donna says that by ordering their plants from the regional council a year in advance, they've been able to plan ahead and buy species that will attract native birds, and receive the 10 per cent discount on the first 80,000 plants ordered for the season after the current financial year.
"It's certainly saved us money and in 10 years you've paid for one year's plants," she says.
"We're just so lucky in Taranaki that we're getting choices compared to other regional councils that are really forcing things onto farmers. I think our council is forward-looking with the riparian planting and as far as I know we've got the only council that is doing that. And when you look around the district now and see the planting a few years on, it's just so nice.
"As we get older I think we realise that we're only here for a short time in the scheme of things and that we have a responsibility to the land that we farm - and it is a privilege to farm here."
Taranaki Regional Council land services manager Don Shearman says the Crams are in a good position to finish their riparian fencing and planting by 2020. Like most of the region's farmers, they have a lot to be proud of, with Taranaki's riparian programme leading New Zealand in terms of scale and voluntary participation, through good times and bad.
"The key thing is to order your plants in advance so that the council can secure enough plants, especially during the lead-up to 2020, while the programme is still voluntary. The fencing is on target and the planting can be completed by then if we plant at a slightly higher rate, using a staged approach.
"The council tenders for external contracts to grow plants in bulk, and has to place these a year ahead in June and July. The only way plants can be supplied at this scale, and at cost, is by advance ordering through our scheme. Those who order for the 2016/2017 financial year can also get a 10 per cent discount on the first 80,000 plants ordered for 2017/2018.
"We are on the right track. Let's work together to meet that 2020 target and show the rest of the country what can be achieved without regulation."
For more details, contact your land management officer or call the council on 0800 736 222.