Farm assurance scheme grows
More than 8,000 farm businesses are now signed up to the New Zealand Farm Assurance (NZFAP) programme – along with several red meat and wool companies.
That's according to New Zealand Farm Assurance Incorporated chair Nick Beeby, on a recent RaboTalk podcast. He says the NZFAP - originally set up with the aim of reducing duplication and cost for farmers and providing assuance to global consumers that New Zealand meat and wool is authentic and safe - had evolved in recent years and is now increasingly easy for farmers to get involved.
NZFAP covers numerous farms and processors, with a voluntary higher level sustainability programme, NZFAP+, launched in 2021, with a 2022 review building on farmer feedback to add a tiered approach encouraging uptake and continuous improvements.
Beeby says that silver tier was about identifying key resources on farm and putting foundational steps in place around developing farm and natural resource plans. Meanwhile, the gold level was about implementing that plan and the ongoing monitoring of it along with more aspirational requirements. He encourages farmers to 'make the first step' and get involved, while saying that accreditation schemes are not going away.
"Whether it be around proving our animal welfare credentials, or improving our environment and sustainability credentials, this is big for our industry.
"Farmers are doing the right things on their farm, and this step (NZFAP accreditation) is about proving or verifying that they're doing the right thing and having that independently audited so farmers can stand behind what they are doing."
In addition to verification of on-farm activities, the programme is now being used by many farmers as a genuine farm business planning tool.
The NZFAP+ programme builds on the existing NZFAP, including additional topics which have seen increasing customer enquiry in recent years like people management, farm and natural resources and biosecurity, along with room for expansion in future as new standards come in.
Beeby added that his own farming operation is currently going through NZFAP+ process accreditation and this has highlighted many benefits of programme participation.
"I'd like to think that I know our farm better than anyone, but as we went through the farm planning process, there were a huge number of little things that I picked up on," he explained. "Like identifying the critical source areas within paddocks and using that as a way of paddock design; new knowledge to me that will certainly assist with our farm business. It's been really beneficial going through it."
Beeby said increased digitisation of the programme was one of the big priorities in 2023, with NZFAP online set to launch later this year providing farmers with the ability to record evidence through their phone and also looking at integration with other providers to avoid duplication.
"If farmers are recording a lot of their evidence online, auditors can assess a lot of that before they come onto the farm. So, when those auditors are on the farm, they're not having to rummage through the shoe box of receipts and they can spend their time on more valuable things."
