YOUR INDUSTRY
HINEMOA QUALITY PRODUCERS GET PROACTIVE WITH FARM ENVIRONMENT PLANS Words by Geoff Lewis. Photos by Trefor Ward
Hinemoa Quality Producers Ltd, Chris Nicholson, on site in one of his potato fields
On the rolling country hills of Pukekawa sits a 215-hectare potato and onion growing operation that is leading the way in meeting the goals of a modern Farm Environment Plan (FEP).
Chris says a large part of that project is also to ensure the farm’s soil remains productive.
Chris and Vikki Nicholson own and run Hinemoa Quality Producers Limited; an operation blessed with beautiful Pukekohe volcanic soil. They are doing their best to not just maintain it but improve all aspects of their operation while practicing nutrient and sediment control.
The project is also a test in the science of erosion and nutrient control.
The Nicholsons are in the middle of an ambitious 15-year project which aims to fill some of the property’s gullies to create nine additional hectares of cropping land.
The Nicholsons are in the middle of an ambitious 15-year project which aims to fill some of the property’s gullies to create nine additional hectares of cropping land 32 NZGROWER : NOVEMBER 2021
“Growing requires water and water storage,” says Chris. “Equally, growing requires healthy soil. We are trying to future proof both.”
One of the on-farm gullies has received consent to be converted into another three-hectare reservoir which will hold up to 80,000 cubic metres of water. This will complement the 45,000 cubic metre capacity of the operation's primary dam. Another gully system has been planted in native flora to control erosion and retain silt, and several specially designed Sediment Retention Ponds (SRP) have been installed on the property to ensure that heavy rain events don’t wash significant quantities of soil off growing areas. These engineered ponds are part of a suite of practices being implemented on the property to manage erosion, sediment loss and nutrient runoff from commercial vegetable production. The average annual erosion rate around the Pukekohe region is five to seven tonnes per hectare depending on the slope. Five tonnes per hectare equates to
