Farmers and Taranaki Catchment Communities launch new Good Farm Planning Hub

The initiative was developed by farmers, for farmers.

A new Taranaki farming initiative will empower farmers with knowledge and support to develop strong farm planning practices.

The “Good Farm” Planning Hub is an initiative developed by farmers, for farmers, supported by Taranaki Catchment Communities. It offers free resources, events and advice to enable farmers to plan their farm’s future.

Taranaki Catchment Community chairwoman and Awatuna dairy farmer Donna Cram says with massive changes in external requirements for farmers, the Good Farm project has been created to help farmers understand exactly what is required, why it is important and how it can benefit them and their business.

“Great planning can lead to better efficiencies and outcomes on-farm. It’s a reassuring feeling to have a plan and know exactly what you’re needing to achieve and when. It’s when you don’t have a plan, or you don’t understand what’s required, that it becomes daunting and leads to farmers becoming anxious or angry. That’s certainly not what we want for our farmers in Taranaki.”

Donna says while the new legislation and requirements are a big learning curve for those in the industry, she strongly believes planning leads to benefits for the farming community, including greater profitability and improved social and environmental outcomes.

“The great thing is that this stuff is not hard, it’s just that there’s a lot of it, and it’s all happened really fast. The Good Farm project is about bringing the community together, outlining the key requirements, sharing knowledge, ideas and systems that are working, all within a space that is comfortable where we can all have a bit of a laugh as well.”

The initiative takes a three-stage approach, allowing farmers to join in at a stage that suits where they’re at with their own integrated farm planning.

Different events, workshops and online information will be tailored to each stage, to ensure farm owners and their staff can get the most relevant information and the most value from each session.

“We have amazing support networks in our industry and everyone is collaborating on this to help farmers in the most efficient and effective ways possible.

“Good Farm is about being part of a community where farmers can all support each other and work together or can work alone in their own time to create great plans that work for each individual farm. With great planning, we will see farm businesses and farmer wellbeing improve, and our industry move forward together.”

Farmers can stay up to date with the project and its events via The Good Farm Planning Hub website at www.goodfarm.nz.