Environment Programme

Achieving sustainability through partnership programmes

Opportunities for growth in dairying will be enhanced if we can demonstrate improvements in resource use efficiency and resource protection on farm. This programme’s objective is to work with farmers, industry bodies and regulators to:

Ensure the dairy industry has a robust yet cost-effective, audited self-management system for resource use that can be implemented where required to facilitate and demonstrate farmer change.
Develop and drive adoption of effective planning tools and associated resources that support farmers through practice changes aimed at meeting resource use efficiency benchmarks or agreed partnership targets.
Aid development of catchment and regional scale policy frameworks and associated targets that enable communities to meet their environmental, social, cultural and economic goals, while also providing clear pathways for industry growth.

Expected outcomes of this project

Benefit

An Audited Self-Management scheme will have a number of potential benefits for farmers, particularly those in nutrient sensitive catchments,

A Sustainable Milk Production Plan will help improve productivity and profitability through a focus on producing more milk from the same or lower inputs. Improving resource use efficiency has the potential to reduce cost of production and increase milk solids production/ha.

By driving adoption of practices that increase resource use efficiency we expect business resilience to increase, providing greater buffering capacity during periods of climatic, economic or regulatory shock.