increase font size
FONTERRA WILL this week hold the first of 50 meetings with farmer suppliers on the new Sustainable Dairying Water Accord.
This partnership between the Dairy Companies Association of New Zealand (DCANZ) and DairyNZ replaces the Clean Streams Accord which expired last year.
Federated Farmers fully supports the new accord and has signed on as ‘friends’. Regional councils, government agencies, fertiliser and irrigation industries and iwi are likely to do the same.
The new agreement covers riparian planting, nutrient management, effluent management, water use management and conversions. One of the specific promises in the new accord is that 90% of all dairy cattle on the milking platform will be excluded from waterways by 31 May 2014 and 100% by May 2017.
The new accord will require farmers to better manage nitrogen and phosphorous though an industry wide monitoring and support system. They’ll also have to comply with regional council effluent rules and improve water efficiency in irrigation systems and around their cow sheds. Farmers doing conversions will have to meet ‘good practice standards’.
The chairman of DCANZ and Fonterra director Malcolm Bailey told Rural News the big difference is that all dairy companies are involved, whereas the old Clean Streams Accord was a Fonterra initiative supported by a number of other agencies – a critical point, Bailey says.
“Farmers have done a good job in raising their game. Maybe that wasn’t a perception shared by some but I certainly think it is, because over the life of the accord the rules farmers have had to work against changed significantly in becoming a lot tougher.”
Bailey says all the companies agree on the direction of the new accord and the desired outcomes. Though each company may handle things slightly differently the result will be the same.
Fonterra and DairyNZ managers will front the Fonterra consultation meetings. The substance of the accord is not expected to change, but individuals’ ideas may improve the way it is managed, Bailey says.
DairyNZ chairman John Luxton says the new accord will take effect from the start of this year’s dairy season and is broader and more comprehensive than its predecessor.
“All dairy companies and DairyNZ will be accountable for [the new accord’s] commitments and farmer uptake will be supported through supply contracts and support programmes,” Luxton says.
The new accord refers to the need for farmers grazing dairy cows away from the milking platform to ensure they don’t get into streams. Luxton believes councils will before long require this as a matter of course, posing problems to farmers, given that cows grazing off-farm in winter can be doing so on hilly country difficult to fence.
The new accord is based on some proposals thrashed out by the Land and Water Forum (LAWF) as a ‘collaborative model’. Environmental groups have been consulted as part of the process.
The accord will not replace rules set in place by councils, but in some cases it will be identical to such rules.
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has joined the debate around the proposed sale of Fonterra’s consumer and related businesses, demanding answers from the co-operative around its milk supply deal with the buyer, Lactalis.
OPINION: Farmer shareholders of two of New Zealand's largest co-operatives have an important decision to make this month and what they decide could change the landscape of the dairy and meat sectors in New Zealand.
OPINION: As CEO of the Dairy Board in the 1980s I was fortunate to work with a team of experienced and capable executives who made most of the brand investments that created the international consumer business Fonterra inherited. Soprole in Chile was the largest, but there were more than 20 countries where consumer marketing companies were established and Anchor and other brands were successfully launched.
Fonterra has delivered a fifth straight year of record organic milk price for farmer suppliers.
Fonterra says favourable weather conditions supporting pasture growth is boosting milk production.
Like many manufacturers around the world, European agricultural machinery and tractor manufacturers are currently operating in a difficult market environment. But they are heading to the world’s largest agricultural machinery event in Hanover next month with a degree of cautious optimism.
Established in 2021, the John Deere Technician of the Year Awards champion the important contribution parts and service technicians make to the Australian and New Zealand agriculture, construction and forestry industries.
Beef + Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ) is calling on farmers from all regions to take part in the final season of the Sheep Poo Study aiming to build a clearer picture of how facial eczema (FE) affects farms across New Zealand.
New Zealand is closer to eradicating bovine TB than ever before, but possums remain a threat, says Beef + Lamb New Zealand.
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has joined the debate around the proposed sale of Fonterra’s consumer and related businesses, demanding answers from the co-operative around its milk supply deal with the buyer, Lactalis.
The ACT Party says media reports that global dairy giant Nestle has withdrawn from the Dairy Methane Action Alliance shows why New Zealand needs to rethink its approach to climate.
OPINION: Ageing lefty Chris Trotter reckons that the decision to delay recognition of Palestinian statehood is more than just a fit…
OPINION: A mate of yours truly recently met someone at a BBQ who works at a big consulting firm who spent…
