Pongakawa farm to host water quality field day

Will Nettleingham and Ann Cameron are hosting the field day on their Pongakawa dairy farm.

Bay of Plenty landowners curious about how to improve the water quality of local streams, rivers and estuaries are being invited to take a first-hand look at restoration efforts under way on a Pongakawa dairy farm.

BOP Farm Forestry Association is organising a field day on November 2 where it hopes to inspire more people to start making significant land use changes.

The special event is being supported by Federated Farmers, Ballance Agri-Nutrients, the Wai Kōkopu Society and the Bay of Plenty Regional Council.

“The combined actions of many land use stakeholders are starting to make progress toward improving water quality of streams and rivers flowing into estuaries in the Bay of Plenty,” says field day organiser Graham West. “These estuaries were once popular swimming and shellfish collection areas, but in recent times have been found to be highly polluted.

The field day will be hosted on the property of Will Nettleingham and Ann Cameron who have a 329ha dairy farm adjacent to the Pongakawa River.

“Will and Ann have been reducing their environmental footprint for some time and are leading the way forward. They will explain how they are making progress with a series of programmes involving land retirements and various types of tree planting.”

Restoration efforts and land use changes are aided by many supporting regional entities, including the regional council and land use focus groups like Wai Kōkopu who provide technical solutions and funding support.

Graham says a key driver for change is the 2020 National Policy Statement for Fresh Water.

“This directs regional councils to take action in the management of freshwater over a five-year period. The field day will hear about the new regulatory framework and invite input and comments from stakeholders.”

Field day attendees will get to view a variety of land use changes on the property and learn about the importance of farm planning and operational execution. Guest speakers will also discuss the Emissions Trading Scheme and carbon funding, while Ballance Agri-Nutrients will provide technical updates on fertiliser options.

“We will view steep land conversion to forest and discuss what to plant and why, and also view native riparian planting to explain the development steps involved and what works.”

The three-hour field day event starts at 10am and also includes lunch, and people are encouraged to bring their own seat to be comfortable.

“All are welcome. There are no silly questions.”

Anyone intending to go along needs to RSVP by October 23 by sending an email to june@wai-kokopu.org.nz