ENVIRONMENT FARM ENVIRONMENT PLANS
Online tool for FEP Words by: Sheryl Haitana
O
pen Country is launching a new online tool for their farmers to complete their own Farm Environment Plans with plenty of support. Putting the process in farmers’ hands gives them control, whilst growing their own knowledge on environmental risks and regulations and how to manage them on farm, Open Country Environment and Sustainability manager Caleb Higham says. “Listening to our farmers, they were asking questions about Farm Environment Plans (FEP). “They wanted some leadership from us and some direction. We came to the conclusion we needed a tool to help farmers and we decided to build a digital one,” he says. It is a tool farmers can have total control over, with support around it to help farmers through it, he says. The dairy industry has a target for all farmers to have a FEP by 2025. About 20% of Open Country’s near 1000 suppliers already have one and the company wants to help farmers keep them live and updated to meet new standards that come from government. This online document will be live, which means farmers can continue to update it and upload progress reports for work they are doing on farm. For example farmers can upload photos of any environmental projects they’ve carried out. Open Country is offering plenty of on-the-ground support to help farmers through the process. Left: By the end of the process, when farmers understand the intent of the rules, the penny drops and there is a sense of pride for what they’re achieving,
