SYSTEMS STEP CHANGE
Step change for good DairyNZ is helping farmers adjust their business to environmental standards. Anne Lee reports.
T
he rules of the game might be changing but that doesn’t have to mean the game is suddenly harder to win or is unfair. DairyNZ’s Sarah Dirks says DairyNZ’s $5-million, five-year Step Change project that will run through to 2025, is all about working with farmers to show ways farming businesses are able to operate successfully while achieving water quality and greenhouse gas (GHG) outcomes alongside profitability goals. “The world is changing and the project focuses on the step changes we need to make to meet customer expectations, trade requirements and the commitments the country has made through policies such as the Paris Climate Accord as well as the National Environmental Standards 38
(NES) and National Policy Statement on FreshWater. “There is a lot coming at farmers but we want to show how we can adapt for the future and how what farmers do to achieve water quality goals can impact their GHG emissions and profit.
“It’s about producing milk the world wants.”
“Equally, we can show how people who focus on profit can also have a positive effect on water quality and GHG emissions. “If we fixate on the policy, it all becomes
quite negative because we view it as people forcing us to do stuff but if we look at what the opportunities are there can be a lot of positives for our businesses and communities – it becomes quite Sarah Dirks. exciting. “It’s about producing milk the world wants.” This month the Sustainable Agriculture Finance Initiative (SAFI) will release its framework for banks and the wider finance industry to use to assess sustainability onfarm. It’s expected that the framework will go
Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | May 2021
