Waimea Freshwater Farm Plan meeting gets wheels turning

More than 40 growers attended the Freshwater Farm Plan meeting on Wednesday 27 October to hear about what they’ll need to do to meet new freshwater requirements.

“It was a great showing of growers from the Waimea Plains,” says HortNZ environmental policy advisor, Jordyn Landers.

“The meeting was to prepare them for the upcoming freshwater requirements.  It was also to give the community confidence that growers are using industry good or best practice standards.”

HortNZ is offering free Freshwater Farm Plan (FWFP) workshops to NZGAP and GLOBALG.A.P. certified growers on the Waimea Plains.

“Growers were very receptive to the workshops and what they need to do. It’s all about social licence, being proactive and doing your bit to improve freshwater quality.

“We are wanting growers to sign up to the NZGAP Environment Management System (EMS), attend the upcoming workshops, and work towards getting their Freshwater Farm Plan audited by early 2022. 

“Taking a catchment approach will allow us to do aggregated reporting to tell a story of progress and continuous improvement, linking practices to outcomes.” 

Vegetables New Zealand general manager, Antony Heywood, for says that creating a Freshwater Farm Plan is a no brainer.

“Freshwater Farm Plans are the solution for improving water quality. If growers don’t take the opportunity to be proactive and create a Freshwater Farm Plan, they could have prescriptive environmental measures imposed on them.

“Growers are not alone and we’re here to help. Just as we have helped growers in Gisborne, Pukekohe and Levin to create Farm Environment Plans, these workshops will provide answers about the process, and step Waimea Plains growers through the process of creating a Freshwater Farm Plan as part of their existing GAP scheme.”