Dairy sector sees green, contrary to what many think

Federated Farmers Hawke's Bay Provincial president Will Foley.

Dairy farmers are much maligned when it comes to farming environmentally and often this is undeserved.

A good example locally is the way the dairy sector is leading and meeting requirements around environmental management of Tukituki River.

Within the catchment are 40 dairy farms that make up 5per cent of the total area.

As a sheep and beef farmer I have to admit these guys have been far more proactive in their response to the call for addressing environmental concerns and taking necessary steps to mitigate these.

DairyNZ already has its sustainable milk plan in place and is looking to make adjustments, trialling on five farms which should satisfy a board of inquiry's Tukituki recommendations.

Clearly, dairy farmers have taken the initiative and are making progress on meeting stock exclusion and effluent management.

This should come as no surprise as for the past few years we have heard of this work happening on farms with added support from the likes of Fonterra.

They showed intent as far back as 2003 with the Clean Streams Accord, since updated to Sustainable Dairying Water Accord in 2013.

Both initiatives have achieved 96 per cent of all waterways on dairy farms across NZ excluded from cattle access.

Meanwhile, dairy farmers have invested more that $1billion in environmental initiatives, mostly focused on upgrading effluent systems.

Generally it looks as though there won't be any major changes required by dairy farmers based on the outcome of their farm environment plans.

I suspect the key focus will be around nutrient plans and budgets.

With this information farmers will be able to assess improvements in efficiency around fertiliser use and reduce their losses.

This will improve dairy farmers' bottom line while also setting the limits recommended by the board of inquiry for the regional council to achieve.

- Will Foley is Federated Farmers Hawke's Bay Provincial president