‘Reducing Barriers to Change’ Theresa Wilson DairyNZ Sustainability Team Leader

Dairy industry facing more challenges than ever before with four key areas of focus both within New Zealand and by international customers: Environment Animal Welfare People Management Food safety We also live and work in an age of social media with instant exposure with little context, greater compliance costs on businesses and increasingly more auditing and accountability within sectors.

So not just a matter of writing some rules and all of sudden 100% compliance! Some regulations we all struggle to implement as ‘The Why’ and ‘The How’ not always clear. By the time plan changes operational the world has moved on. Great to see more cross party engagement with regulators and sectors to ensure stated (agreed) aims can be met.

~270 staff Levy organisation and vote by farmers every 5 years (May 2014 is voting!) Receives 3.6 c per kg milk solids from farmers (~$60M) 100% farmer focused

Sustainable Dairying: Water Accord All dairy companies and DairyNZ Has broad industry support Applies to all farmers Pan-industry commitments National standards for our industry Time and support for meeting commitments Independently audited by Tellarc

NZ Dairy Industry Source: New Zealand Dairy Statistics

Sheep and cattle numbers to Cattle & Sheep Numbers

System Changes Source: DairyNZ Economics Group System 1 All grass self contained, all stock on the dairy platform System 3 Feed imported to extend lactation (typically autumn feed) and for dry cows System 5 Imported feed used all year round, throughout lactation and for dry cows

Regional Milk Production, % of total m tons milk solids m tons milk solids North Island 58 % North Island 71% South Island 29% South Island 42 % + 32 % Source: DairyNZ Economics Group, Dairy Statistics

Ministry for the Environment website

Farming with Limits Programme Limit setting Managing to limits Policy engagement Increased WQL science Economic analysis Developing external capability Effluent and nutrient accreditation On farm change programmes (‘Sustainable Milk Plans’ and ‘System Choice’) National Policy Statement on Freshwater requires the water quality of all rivers and lakes to be maintained or enhanced

Good practice plan / continual improvement Sets out the farmer’s own time bound action plan to improve performance Tailored to individual farms Avoids duplication & adds value to other activities 5 target areas: Sustainable Milk Plan NutrientsEffluentWaterwaysLandWater use

A legacy of changes Seeps, springs & wetlands Drainage Contour Receiving waters Every farm is different Farm in the landscape

Where are the hot spots and risks?

Current practice: Effluent Area: 10 ha N leaching: 42 kgN/ha/yr P loss: 0.6 kgP/ha/yr Practice change: Effluent Area: 25 ha N leaching: 26 kgN/ha/yr P loss: 0.6 kgP/ha/yr On Farm Change - Effluent

On farm change – Land Management Winter housing Stand-off pads Feed pads Wintering off stock

On farm change – Waterway Management

On farm change - Water use Monitoring Preventing losses Reducing Use Staff training

Action plan for change

Upper Waikato 700 plans Waipa Catchment 900 plans 2015 onwards ? Hurunui-Waiau catchment 80 plans 2014 Wider Canterbury 300 plans Horizons 420 plans Mangare and Waitangi catchments 37 plans Rotorua Lakes Catchment 40 plans Sustainable Milk Plans in Action Waituna Catchment 28 plans 2012

Key messages with farmers Benchmark your system to understand risk. Make use of resources and professional advice to formulate a plan of action The actions you take on farm will influence downstream water quality eg Upper Waikato SMP project with reductions in N and P per hectare (peer reviewed currently) Every improvement you make on farm increases the sustainability of the dairy industry Key to success is one on one support from experts!

Improved Dairy Farm Effluent Systems in New Zealand

Looking back 3 to 4 years ago…….. Water quality reporting not so good around NZ NGO’s more vocal Media liking some controversy Grumpy regional councils with slow pace of change “Dirty Dairy” stuck with general public Dairy effluent very visible problem Immense pressure to do something!

2014 and what’s been happening…….. Farmers made huge investment in improved infrastructure to manage effluent Significant non-compliance reduced Fonterra put in place ‘Supply Fonterra’ programme with team of Sustainability Advisors Synlait launched ‘Lead with Pride’ programme DairyNZ ‘Train the Trainer’ programme to increase skill set of effluent service industry through improved technical information/training courses Acknowledgement by regional councils that the industry is serious about managing our environmental footprint

Dairy Industry Aims Keep all untreated effluent out of surface and groundwater. Keep land applied effluent nutrients in the root zone to capture the nutrient and economic value. Ensure all systems are compliant 365 days a year

Key Aspects of Land Application Systems Require capital investment in variety of infrastructure Requires farm labour to move/maintain irrigation system Skilled design needed for cost effective solution Environmental risk if not managed well Return on investment in fertiliser savings ~ 7-12 years Pity to waste nutrients which grow great grass Good for the soil No viable alternative! However….

Farmer Raise awareness of what is a good system for their farm Where to go for quality advice Questions they should be asking Effluent Service Industry Increase skill level of the industry Develop systems to promote good businesses Effluent Programme

Barriers to change being removed Investment in new infrastructure was risky as there were no clear standards for their systems to meet –Industry set national standards Support industries lacked skills –Industry set new training courses Farmers didn’t know who did a good job – Industry established accredited suppliers

WOF A system has been developed for certification of Dairy Effluent Assessors as part of the Dairy Effluent Warrant of Fitness programme. The purpose of this certification system is to enable dairy farmers to choose suitable trained and competent professionals. What is a Dairy Effluent WoF? The WoF is a full 3-4 hour assessment of your dairy farm effluent system following a consistent methodology by trained professionals. A report is provided to farmers with areas of concern, why and suggested actions (similar to building inspection report)

Effluent Extension Activities (during 2014/15) Specialist effluent workshops (‘Drop In’ Days, Bus trips etc) Discussion groups (On-request from CO’s) Technical support for farmers through 0800 service Engage with companies around new technologies Technical support for milk supply companies Worked with the Primary ITO to revamp the effluent course for farm staff Promotional programme around Dairy Effluent WOF Resources mainly ‘Effluent Technical Notes’ to plug gaps eg ‘Odour Management for Storage Ponds’ Working on ‘Alternative Effluent Treatment Systems’, ‘Energy Capture from Effluent’ and ‘Methods for Pond Leakage Detection’.

DairyNZ Engaging in the process of limit setting in different regions Approach from a strong science based philosophy Prepare science based technical support information for farmers Facilitate the development of professional training courses Support farmers through the change process Work with a lot of other key stakeholders to ensure consistent tools and approaches available (there are a lot of snake-oil sales folk circulating with the answer for everything!!)