Dairy farmers tackling environmental issues says new report

Independently audited report Sustainable Dairying: Water Accord 'Three Years On' was released today by DairyNZ. Photo / Christine McKay

Dairy farmers are tackling environmental issues head on and have made significant progress on their commitment to protecting dairy waterways, according to a new progress report on the Sustainable Dairying: Water Accord 'Three Years On'.

The independently audited report shows that 97 per cent of dairy cattle are fenced off from waterways on farms. That equals 26,197km of measured Accord waterways excluded from dairy cattle or the equivalent of 12 trips by road from Cape Reinga to Bluff.

National levels of significant non-compliance for dairy effluent systems on farms have dropped to their lowest, at 5.2 per cent (down from 7 per cent in 2013-14).

Read a summary of the report here.

Eighty-three per cent of farmers (compared to 56 per cent in 2013-14) are now getting nitrogen information to help them farm more responsibly - with 9517 nutrient budgets processed last year. The nitrogen management programme collects data to show nitrogen loss on-farm. This enables farmers to make improvements to their farm systems to reduce nitrogen loss and improve efficiency of use.

More than 99 per cent of 44,386 regular stock crossing points on dairy farms now have bridges or culverts to protect local water quality.

DairyNZ CEO Dr Tim Mackle said it was heartening to see what farmers had achieved in three years. "I acknowledge that there is still some work to do, but dairy farmers are making a positive difference.

"They have made great strides since the Sustainable Dairying: Water Accord was launched in 2013. Dairy farmers made a commitment to good management practices and the actions they have taken, both large and small, are reflected in these results. The really special thing is that they have made this commitment voluntarily, and I take my hat off to them", says Dr Mackle.

Watch the video feed from DairyNZ featuring live scenes from a north Waikato farm in the link above.

Dairy Companies Association of New Zealand executive director Kimberly Crewther said that since the Sustainable Dairying: Water Accord was launched in 2013, the industry had made significant progress on meeting its environmental commitments.

"The annual process of independent auditing of results gives a high degree of assurance that real progress is occurring against targets", she said.

For further information on the Water Accord, visit dairynz.co.nz/wateraccord.

Read the full report here.