NEW ENVIRONMENTAL COLLECTIVE WINTER MANAGEMENT GMP STANDARDThe Environmental Subcommittee has been working on a new Winter Management Good Management Practice (GMP) standard (see box below) and at its November meeting agreed a plan for its implementation over the next couple of seasons.

WINTER MANAGEMENT GMP

OBJECTIVEWinter stock management is planned, and stock are wintered to manage identified risks to the environment, animal welfare and staff.

OUTCOME ON FARMEnvironmental risks are identified, and various mitigations and management practices are planned and implemented to effectively manage risks and provide contingencies for extreme weather events.

TARGETST1 Prepare a written winter management plan early, ideally

when crops are being planned for the coming season.

T2 Identify the risks associated with each wintering block and the mitigation measures needed for these. Note these on your winter management plan.

T3 Consider the likely impact of extreme weather events and what contingencies are available to ensure a difficult situation does not turn into a crisis.

www.amuriirrigation.co.nz

The GMP standard is based on work undertaken this winter reviewing several Collective farms, discussions with Collective members and reviewing ECan’s existing requirements and proposed guidance for FEP Auditors. It recognises that each farm is unique in terms of its location, characteristics and management systems and it is not possible to set out specific requirements. Therefore, the approach adopted is to:

Plan winter management early;

Assess environmental risks; and

Implement appropriate mitigations.

In situations where risks are low, mitigation measures may be very limited. But in other high risk situations, appropriate and effective mitigations will be significant and costly and may mean an alternative plan is a more cost-effective option.

Another year of advisory work will be undertaken before the Winter Management GMP is included in FEPs and FEP Auditing. A number of farm visits will be conducted during Winter 2020 with farmers receiving an advisory report following the visit which will evaluate performance against the new Winter Management GMP and include any advice and recommendations. If you wish to receive an advisory visit this coming winter, please contact Alastair or Renee.

The Subcommittee will review this approach again at the end of next winter. Currently, the expectation is that FEP auditing 2020/21 will include the Winter Management GMP and a number of FEP Audits will be scheduled for Winter 2021.

NEWSLETTERENVIRONMENTAL COLLECTIVEISSUE 9

DEC 2019

John Preece (Wetlands NZ ecologist) presenting at the Hurunui Biodiversity Group field day. Here he is getting up close to the freshwater mussels and other invertebrate species.

www.amuriirrigation.co.nz

A Winter Management GMP guide will be published in early 2020 setting out GMP and outlining the requirements for a winter management plan. It will also explain and define mitigation options, including guidelines on when and where these should be used.

We would like to engage with other parts of the production chain to help deliver the new GMP standard. Particularly seed suppliers, agronomists/farm consultants and other industry groups we already work with (e.g. Fonterra). These all play an important part in ensuring the environmental risks of winter stock management are appropriately managed. We may also hold or take part in Field Days to help members understand the Winter Management GMP and what is expected.

WINTER GRAZING TASKFORCE In the last newsletter, we reported that a Winter Grazing Taskforce had been set up to look at improving animal welfare on winter grazing systems. The Taskforce has now made ten recommendations for immediate and longer-term actions.

In general, the response from industry was supportive but the difficulties of ensuring some actions ‘always’ or ‘never’ happen was highlighted e.g. always providing animals with a soft dry surface to lie on. A pan-sector action group is taking responsibility for implementing the recommendations, hopefully using a practical approach.

The report flagged the impact winter grazing has on soil and environmental management although this was not the focus of the group. Meeting good environmental practice will not adequately ensure risks to animal welfare and standalone standards must be developed to address these.

The report endorsed two approaches already adopted by the Collective towards good winter management:

That early planning is critical and that is not just a farmer problem

That all aspects of the production chain be involved in improving standards, be they welfare or environmental.

The Taskforce is proposing that by next winter (2020) the issues relating to animal welfare will be clearly identified and expectations and standards defined by Winter 2021 when additional compliance and regulatory tools are to be in place.

The AIC Environmental Collective will maintain a watching brief on the roll out of the Taskforce’s recommendations where they relate to good environmental management. Animal welfare is not a responsibility of the Collective.

FEP AUDITING 2019/20The current round of FEP Auditing is well underway and our team of Auditors from The AgriBusiness Group (TAG) Sam Mander, Amelia Wood and Dave Lucock have been out and about since November. Alastair is also an ECan certified FEP Auditor and will be out auditing in the new year.

If you can’t make your scheduled audit appointment, please let Renee know as soon as possible. We have around 80 audits to complete this round and need to be efficient to get these done on-time and keep costs as low as possible. Late changes make the management of expensive auditor time difficult which only increases costs for everyone.

Please remember that you have 10 days after you receive your

Audit Report to make comments or seek corrections or changes if you do not think these are fair. Contact your auditor in the first instance, but if you can’t resolve the issue then contact Alastair.

DRY STREAM FIELD DAY (10TH OCTOBER 2019)The Hurunui Biodiversity Group field day was held at Culverden Collective member’s property ‘The Triangle’ managed by Nigel Gardiner. The field day was well attended. The state of Canterbury’s wetlands, work done by Nigel and the farm owners to restore riparian and wetland habitats on the farm, improve water quality and plans for future wetland developments were discussed.

Photo: Preparing for winter at Coldstream: Temporary buffer strips are being planned and planted along waterways on this dairy support farm to provide a buffer between crop and the waterway showing that that mitigations need not be expensive.

Photo: Sediment Trap (J & M Murphy) This is an excellent example of a newly created sediment trap and wetland area doing a fantastic job of trapping sediment. Janet has future plans for adding some native planting. Previously, the area was difficult to manage as it was a permanently wet end of a paddock.

IRRIGATION TRAINING WORKSHOP AND TRAINING TO BE HELD 11TH AND 25TH MARCH 2020

Renee Dampier-Crossley Phone 03 315 8984 renee@amuriirrigation.co.nz

Alastair Rutherford Phone: 021 474 707 alastair@amuriirrigation.co.nz

ENVIRONMENTAL COLLECTIVE CONTACTS: