Listen: Water Accord progress 'huge' for dairy industry

Dairy Environment Leaders Group for DairyNZ, Alister Body. Photo / Supplied

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It has been five years since the Sustainable Dairying: Water Accord was signed and one simple yet significant achievement stands out for Alister Body.

"It's undoubtedly getting cows out of waterways and protecting the stream margins" the chair of the Dairy Environment Leaders Group, told The Country Early Edition's Rowena Duncum.

"That's huge and I know it's said a lot and the public have heard it before, but it is huge for the industry" said Body.

The Sustainable Dairying: Water Accord was signed in 2013 as a voluntary commitment from New Zealand's dairy farmers, DairyNZ, dairy processors and supporting partners to take a range of actions to improve New Zealand's waterways.

Body said other notable achievements so far were improvements in water quality and the development and use of Farm Environment Plans.

"These are plans which detail how farmers run their cattle when it comes to streams, how they place their fertiliser, what they do with their effluent, how they protect the streams, what they might plant in riparian areas. Those sorts of things - and it's tailored to each individual farm".

Listen to the full interview below:

Body said farmers should be proud of what has been achieved so far.

"We've come a hugely long way haven't we?"

Sustainable Dairy: Water Accord - some achievements so far:

• Fencing off dairy cattle from 24,249km (98.3 per cent) of significant dairy accord waterways (waterways which are more than one metre wide and more than 30cm deep). That's the equivalent of nearly 12 road trips from Cape Reinga to Bluff. Excluding stock from waterways is one of the most beneficial ways to improve water quality.

• Installing bridges and culverts on 100 per cent of stock crossing points dairy cows use.

• Preparing 10,396 nutrient budgets – up from 6,400 budgets in the first year of the Accord. Nutrient budgets allow farmers to carefully plan nutrient applications and manage nutrient losses.

• Assessing 100 per cent of Accord farms for effluent management practices – this process checks that farms have appropriate infrastructure and systems in place to manage effluent.

• Developing riparian management plans to protect water quality on 52 per cent of Accord farms with waterways.

Also in today's interview: Body explains more about the auditing process.