Farm planning

Farm Environment Plan

A Farm Environment Plan (FEP) is a tool used to support growers to assess their environmental risks, take action where required, and demonstrate progress on environmental objectives.

The objective of FEPs is to minimise the impact of horticulture and farming on the ecological health and amenity value of New Zealand’s waterways.

In the future, agricultural emissions (e.g. nitrous oxide from fertiliser use) are likely to be included in FEPs to support growers with meeting the Zero Carbon Act 2019 and He Waka Eke Noa (a primary sector partnership to reduce on-farm agricultural emissions).

NZGAP has developed the Environment Management System (EMS) add-on with the purpose of supporting growers to meet regulatory expectations for an FEP as an extension to their existing GAP system. The management practices identified in the EMS have been developed from research and tested with New Zealand growing systems.

For more information on FEPs and the EMS, visit www.nzgap.co.nz.