Dairy industry reaches new water quality agreement
A new set of national good management practice standards aimed at lifting environmental performance on dairy farms has been agreed between industry body DairyNZ and all dairy companies, with the support and input from a wide range of industry stakeholders.
The new Sustainable Dairying: Water Accord will now be taken to farmers over the coming months before being finalised and formally launched in time for the 2013/14 dairy season effective 1 August 2013.
DairyNZ Chairman John Luxton says the new accord has been developed to update and succeed the Clean Streams Accord that was developed in 2003 with commitments that ended in 2012.
"This is a new broader and more comprehensive commitment than the previous Clean Streams Accord as it will cover all dairy farmers, not just Fonterra suppliers. It also includes commitments to targeted riparian planting plans, comprehensive standards for new dairy farms and measures to improve the efficiency of water and nutrient use on farms. All dairy companies and DairyNZ will be accountable for its commitments and farmer uptake will be supported through supply contracts and support programmes.
"We’ve been discussing this new Accord for months with various farmer groups including Federated Farmers and the dairy companies to get pan-industry agreement. The Dairy Environment Leadership Group has also been involved in a governance role. This group includes Federated Farmers as well as central and regional government officials and representatives from iwi and environmental groups too. We’re now releasing the Accord as we move into further wider engagement with farmers and other stakeholders over the next couple of months," he says.
Along with each individual dairy company, the Dairy Companies Association of New Zealand (DCANZ) is also involved. DCANZ Chairman and Fonterra Director Malcolm Bailey, says the new Accord is about the industry setting some industry good practice standards that farmers will have to meet no matter who they supply or where they farm.
"Dairy companies will be discussing these commitments with farmers over the coming months to explain them and talk about why measures are being taken and what support is being put in place. Fonterra, supported by DairyNZ, is planning 50 meetings around the country with its suppliers from March 4-15. Other companies, supported by DairyNZ, will also be talking through the details of the Accord with their farmer suppliers over the coming months."
The agreement will be in place for the start of the next dairy season and will be a key action for implementing a new Strategy for Sustainable Dairy Farming that will be released in May.
Federated Farmers Dairy chairperson, Willy Leferink, says Federated Farmers and other farmer groups have been consulted throughout the development of the Accord.
Federated Farmers has committed to be one of the new Accord’s supporting partners.
"This Accord is different because we are making commitments right across our industry to ensure farm improvements happen. Farmers are not only going to be involved in supporting change but will deliver it by meeting these targets. This includes the irrigation and fertiliser sectors too. Dairy farmers have made a lot of progress in a very short period of time but this is the biggest step yet in terms of getting everyone in our industry to work together by agreeing some common standards for industry good practice," he says.
DairyNZ’s John Luxton agrees. "We’re stepping up as an industry with this new Accord to take responsibility for driving change and measuring progress towards our environmental goals. There’ll be annual reporting and a third party independent audit of those reports to ensure transparency and robustness."
The Accord covers five key areas:
Riparian management - requirements for excluding dairy cattle from significant waterways and drains (greater than one metre in width and deeper than 30cm that permanently contain water) and significant wetlands (identified by regional councils) within a phased timeframe; development of riparian planting plans
Nutrient management - improving management of Nitrogen and Phosphorus loss from dairy farming systems through an industry-wide monitoring and support system
Effluent management - compliance with regional council effluent management rules and continued investment in fit for purpose systems Water use management - improving water use efficiency in irrigation systems and around the cowshed
Conversions - comprehensive good practice standards for all new dairy farms Specifically the dairy industry is committing to a number of key timeframes including
- Dairy cattle excluded from waterways: 90% by 31 May 2014; 100% by 31 May 2017.
- Dairy cattle excluded from wetlands : 100% by 31 May 2014
As well as DairyNZ and dairy companies, other parties including regional councils and sector bodies are also now expected to consider their commitments to sign up to the agreement as friends and supporting partners.
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