Freshwater Farm Plans for growers on the Waimea Plains

Ailsa Robertson : HortNZ team lead environmental policy

Growers with five or more hectares will need a Freshwater Farm Plan (FWFP) over the next few years. National regulation being drafted will give more detail, including where and when plans are required across the country, the minimum content, and who can audit and certify them.

The government has indicated the regulation will be finalised at the end of the year. Horticulture New Zealand is advocating for the regulation to recognise GAP (Good Agricultural Practice) assurance programmes to deliver audited and certified FWFPs for our industry.

A credible way for growers to show they are implementing sustainable practices to manage soils, nutrients and irrigation

FWFPs will play a role in how Councils manage freshwater resources in their regions. Regional councils must initiate a plan change by the end of 2024 to implement the National Policy Statement for Freshwater (NPSFM) 2020, to set longterm visions for freshwater, new policies and rules, identify limits on resource use, prepare an action plan to achieve the limits within a certain timeframe, and may include conditions on resource consents. Limits on resource use may apply to any activity or land use in that catchment. Tasman District Council is reviewing their existing Tasman Resource Management Plan and will be creating a new ’Tasman Environment Plan’ which will include giving effect to the requirements of the NPSFM 2020 for freshwater management – it is expected to be notified in 2024. On Tasman’s Waimea Plains, HortNZ’s catchment project brings together science, policy and implementation around FWFPs.

As an industry, we can tell a powerful story of growers on a journey of continuous improvement

Case studies

Two grower case studies – of vegetables and apples – are being developed to show how the Environment Management System (EMS) add-on to GAP can deliver credible and robust FWFPs for growers. All growers with five or more hectares on the plains are being supported to develop their first FWFP using the GAP EMS in 2022. HortNZ is also collaborating with Council through a Memorandum of Understanding to agree on the freshwater science and the modelling of horticulture systems on the plains. Through this project, HortNZ intends to build robust evidence on sustainable growing practices to support enabling policies for growers in the new regional plan. The Waimea project also involves testing a new component of FWFPs called the ’catchment context’. This means a growing business will need to consider environmental risks at two scales in their FWFP – property and catchment. As an example, if the priority for a catchment is the management of elevated nitrates in groundwater, growers and farmers will need to show how they are prioritising nitrogen management in their FWFP to best practice standards. Additional regional council requirements will also need to be reflected in FWFPs. For example, an irrigation management plan or an erosion and sediment control plan. NZGAP has created several regional guides, such as the Tasman Regional Guide, to show how growers meet Council requirements using the GAP EMS add-on.

FWFPs are a regulatory tool, but they are also a credible way for growers to show they are implementing sustainable practices to manage soils, nutrients and irrigation. A nitrogen budget can show how a grower is accounting for inputs and outputs for each crop and yield, and a nutrient management plan shows a grower’s decision around fertiliser applications at the right rate, right time and right place for each crop. As an industry, we can tell a powerful story of growers on a journey of continuous improvement, through aggregated and audited FWFP data.

To find out more about starting your FWFP now using the GAP EMS add-on, visit NZGAP’s website

https://www.nzgap.co.nz/.

YOUR INDUSTRY

ACROSS THE SECTOR – ACROSS THE COUNTRY

18 WOMEN IN HORTICULTURE