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Dairying and Clean Streams Accord: Snapshot of Progress 2004/2005

1.0 Background

On 26 May 2003, the Dairying and Clean Streams Accord was agreed between Fonterra Co-operative Group, the Minister for the Environment, the Minister of Agriculture, and regional councils. The parties to the Accord agreed to work together to achieve clean healthy water, including streams, rivers, lakes, groundwater and wetlands in dairying areas. The Accord is both a statement of intent and a framework for actions to promote sustainable dairy farming in New Zealand.

Five targets were set for farmers to implement. These are:

• Dairy cattle are excluded from 50 percent of streams, rivers and lakes by 2007, 90 percent by 2012.
• Fifty percent of regular crossing points have bridges or culverts by 2007, 90 percent by 2012.
• One hundred percent of farm dairy effluent discharges to comply with resource consents and regional plans immediately. 
• One hundred percent of dairy farms to have in place systems to manage nutrient inputs and outputs by 2007.
• Fifty percent of regionally significant wetlands are fenced by 2005, 90 percent by 2007.

The first Snapshot of Progress covered progress made during the 2003/2004 dairying season. Stock exclusion and stream-crossing targets set for 2007 had already been met. Other targets, such as those for nutrient management, still required some work in order to be met.    

What’s in this report?

This report describes the progress made towards the Accord targets during the 2004/2005 dairying season. It also addresses issues that were raised in the first year of the Accord, such as clarification of definitions and the independent audit of survey data. The report highlights other work being undertaken to support the Accord, such as developing a monitoring and reporting strategy to measure the environmental outcomes.

Many parties have contributed to this report. Accord partners have provided data and information and farmers have taken part in surveys, with many agreeing to an independent audit of their property to verify this data. The contribution of all is greatly valued and has enabled the continuing success of the Accord.   

2.0 Progress against the targets

Partners have made good progress working towards the Accord’s targets over the 2004/2005 year. Progress is being measured by:

• the results of Fonterra’s 2004/2005 On-farm Environment and Animal Welfare Assessment
• data taken from an independent audit of the on-farm assessment
• regional council monitoring of compliance with resource consents for dairy effluent disposal.     

On-farm assessments

In the 2004/2005 season, Fonterra again completed its On-farm Environment and Animal Welfare Assessment. This assessment provides some of the data used to measure progress against Accord targets. Farmer participation in the assessment is voluntary, although as with last year 99 percent of farmers again agreed to participate.

Some aspects of the verbal assessment changed from the previous year. The wording of some questions was altered to remove ambiguity. Questions relating to stock access to wetlands were not asked as some regional councils have not yet identified regionally significant wetlands and the question caused confusion amongst farmers. Those councils who have identified regionally significant wetlands often work directly with the farmers concerned to protect the values of each wetland. 

Also some of the questions in the on-farm assessment questionnaire were not asked in Taranaki, as data relating to waterway access and stock crossing was supplied directly by the Taranaki Regional Council through its farm planning programme.  This presents some difficulties in enabling direct comparisons for the whole country between 2003/04 and the 2004/05 seasons.  However, changes to the collection of information in Taranaki will address the issues of consistency in future years.

In general, farmers have progressed towards meeting the Accord targets. Variations between regions are still large and support the importance of Regional Action Plans and the individual relationships Fonterra has with each regional council.

Table 1: Progress towards Accord targets

Accord target	2003/2004	2004/2005
Dairy cattle are excluded from streams, rivers and lakes (2007 target: cattle excluded from 50 percent of Accord rivers)	67 percent [This includes suppliers that had no Accord-type waterways.]	72 percent [Does not include the Taranaki region which has presented its figure as  54 percent with riparian farm plans.]
Regular race crossing points have bridges or culverts (2007 target 50 percent of regular crossing points bridged or culverted)	92 percent [Percentage of Accord-type crossings (eg wider than a stride and deeper than a red band) that are bridged or have culverts.]	93 percent [Percentage of Accord-type crossings (eg wider than a stride and deeper than a red band) that are bridged or have culverts.]
Farm dairy effluent is appropriately treated and discharged	Not collated	Detailed breakdown given in Table 3
Nutrients are managed to minimise losses to ground and surface water (2007 target 100 percent of farms have nutrient management plan)	17 percent	19 percent
Regionally significant wetlands are protected from stock (2007 target 50 percent fenced)		Was not measured (see text for explanation)

The results of the on-farm assessment have shown continued progress since the first year of the Accord. The nutrient management target still requires significant work to be met. With this in mind, the dairy industry will focus on improving the uptake of nutrient management over the 2005/2006 dairying season. This is outlined in section 4 of this snapshot.       

Interesting Accord facts and figures

As part of the annual farm assessment surveys a number of interesting facts and figures emerge about dairying throughout New Zealand including:

• All regions – except Canterbury and Southland – have experienced drops in farm numbers as farm mergers and developments occur. The total number of Fonterra farms is 11,791, a drop of 285 from the 2003/2004 season.
• More than half (52 percent) of Fonterra farmers in Hawke’s Bay now have a nutrient budget.
• Canterbury has the highest number of farms (81 percent) with either no Accord-type waterways (eg streams on the property are smaller than the Accord definition of “as wide as a stride and deeper than a red band”) or where stock are already excluded from waterways.
• The region with the highest percentage of farms with Accord-type waterways is Southland and, interestingly, 71 percent of these Accord-type streams already have full stock exclusion. This is the highest percentage of any region.  
• Twenty-two percent of waterway crossings in Marlborough are used regularly and are not bridged. Marlborough District Council work on the Accord has a strong focus on improvement in this area.   

Independent auditing

Due to concerns raised in the first year of the Accord over a lack of transparency of data, Fonterra commissioned an independent audit of some on-farm assessment results collected during the 2003/2004 season. Randomly selected farms were visited to check compliance with the information recorded, and to verify the assessment and interview procedures used.  Due to the relatively small sample sizes of the independent audits, direct comparisons with the main on-farm assessment results will always be difficult to make, however the exercise has proved extremely beneficial for a number of reasons as described below.

Twenty farms in each of the Northland and Canterbury regions and 70 in Waikato, were visited by independent auditors.  The audit involved a farm walk and detailed discussions with each farmer.  Each regional council provided GIS aerial maps to assist this process, which enabled direct identification and measurement of stock-crossing areas, lengths of Accord-type waterways on each farm and the proportion of these where stock are excluded.  

This visit was also an opportunity to offer advice and answers to farmers’ questions about environmental management.

Audit findings

In all regions, farmers showed a lack of information or knowledge about nutrient management planning and nutrient budgets.  This is reflected by the low number of farms that have a completed nutrient management plan.

There was also a large variation in farmer perception of the information and expertise available to support effluent management decisions on their farms. Northland farmers felt they struggled to find support for decision making on this issue. Waikato farmers thought they had a good understanding of the basics but felt they required extra help and advice for fine-tuning their systems. Canterbury farmers did not think they required extra information about managing their effluent as the annual visit from the regional council was an adequate source of expertise.

The definition of an Accord waterway was also unclear for some farmers. They were unsure if “wider then a stride” applied to the bank or the water level of that waterway. The auditors also felt that where a fence was not present, opinion on whether stock did have access or not, was variable. Altering the way some questions are asked and the definition of some terms will be a focus for ongoing improvements to the On-farm Assessment questionnaire.  

The auditors concluded that the survey methodology currently used in the On-farm Environment and Animal Welfare Assessment provides robust data. By incorporating the changes around waterway definition they saw no reason to alter the methodology of the assessment based on the results of the audit. Fonterra will undertake the audit again in the 2005/2006 season, to improve the accuracy of data collected and to explore more of the regional variation present in farm information needs.

Table 2 Audit results for 2003/2004 season (2003/2004 survey data in brackets)

Location	Percent of Accord waterways with no stock access	Percent of farms that had completed a nutrient budget
Northland	64%   (70%)	15 %    (8%)
Waikato	60%   (68%)	37 %   (18%)
Canterbury	60%   (78%)	30 %   (27%)

Given the small number of audit farms in each region compared to the actual number of suppliers, the audit results are broadly consistent with the on-farm assessment results and provide a measure of confidence that the annual survey methodology is robust enough to provide meaningful information on the progress of the Accord.  The survey will be repeated in the 2005/2006 season to further check the results of the annual assessment surveys.

Verification of data relating to waterway crossings was not possible due to the small sample size. Only one Accord-type crossing was identified and this had a culvert.

Although questions relating to effluent management were asked during the audit it was not in relation to compliance but rather farm limitations and the farmers’ information requirements. Regional councils collect information on farmer compliance with the Accord target on effluent compliance. These data for the 2004/2005 season are presented in table 3.

Compliance with consent data

The third Accord target is compliance with resource consents for dairy effluent discharge. Regional councils monitor compliance with consents, and have supplied the data in table 3. 

Table 3 Farmer compliance with dairy effluent resource consents over the 2004/2005 dairying season

View Table 3 Farmer compliance with dairy effluent resource consents over the 2004/2005 dairying season

Data are not immediately comparable between regions due to differences in collection methodology. For instance, in 2004/2005, Environment Waikato moved from inspecting every farm every year to auditing randomly selected farms across the region on a detailed condition by condition basis.  These collection methodologies reflect the requirements of each region. However, this table provides data that can be compared to measure compliance progress in each region in future years. 

Non-compliance is divided into three different grades – termed minor, moderate, and significant non-compliance – where data exists. Minor non-compliance often includes such incidents as a farmer not submitting required paperwork to the regional council within a set timeframe. Significant non-compliance refers to issues that require more immediate attention, such as an effluent spill.    

Anecdotal evidence from regional councils suggests that most non-compliance is quickly addressed by the farmer once notification takes place.  An attempt will be made to access this response information in the next snapshot report.

3.0 Progress during the 2004/2005 year

The 2003/2004 Snapshot of Progress looked back on the first year of the Accord. It identified areas for improvement over the next year. During the 2004/2005 year, work that has been carried out in the identified areas includes: 

Improved monitoring and reporting

The Ministry for the Environment has coordinated the development of a long-term monitoring and reporting strategy. Progress towards Accord targets will still be measured annually using data collected by Fonterra during its annual on-farm assessments. The long-term strategy sets out how the environmental benefits of implementing the Accord will be measured. It uses water and stream quality data collected by the dairy industry and regional councils. The monitoring strategy is designed to link improvements in water and stream quality back to actions taken under the Accord.

The strategy is based on three sources of information:

• data collected in the four Dairying Best Practice Catchments
• data from new ‘tier 2’ catchments around the country
• case studies where the impacts of individual Accord targets are measured.

These information sources are explained in more detail in section 4.

Information collected will include biological and water quality data. Data from both upstream and downstream of catchment areas in which the Accord targets have been implemented, will be collected and compared. Where possible, monitoring will build on existing monitoring programmes. Regional councils will collect data and will summarise this for their region. The Ministry for the Environment will collate the data and publish it.

Reporting of data collected under the strategy will be undertaken by the Ministry for the Environment on a five-yearly basis. An initial baseline report of data will be available by June 2007. A five-yearly progress report will be released in 2012 to coincide with the date set for Accord targets to be achieved by. A copy of the strategy can be viewed at www.mfe.govt.nz.

Continuing improvement of nutrient management        

Fonterra is in regular contact with the major fertiliser companies to coordinate rural professionals who help suppliers implement nutrient management plans. There has been a small increase in the number of farmers using nutrient budgets as a planning tool on their farms. The Accord partners will focus on this target over the 2005/2006 season.

New dairy conversions

As a result of work in 2004/2005, new dairy farms, converted from other land uses, are now required to have Fonterra’s environmental policies implemented for their milk to be collected. This includes compliance with resource consents.  

Regional Action Plan implementation continued

Regional Action Plans identify areas where regional councils and Fonterra will work together to meet Accord targets. The plans also aim to promote the Accord amongst farmers. Regional councils will continue to work with Fonterra to implement these plans. The Ministry for the Environment has facilitated workshops where regional council representatives can share ideas and experiences.

There has been significant cooperation between regional councils and Fonterra to extend information to farmers about Accord best management practices. Much of this work has included Dexcel as the industry extension arm. Examples of initiatives include:

• production and distribution of regional waterways management guides
• production and distribution of regional effluent management guides
• field days showcasing best practice effluent management
• field days showcasing best practice nutrient management
• distribution of Regional Action Plans to suppliers in the applicable regions.

Regionally significant wetlands inventory

This work is on hold awaiting identification of regionally significant wetlands by regional councils. Regionally significant wetlands have been identified in three regions: Taranaki, Otago and Hawkes Bay.  

Promote Market Focused

Market Focused, the Fonterra environmental management system, is provided to all Fonterra farmers as part of their Best On-farm Practice Quality Management Manual. All suppliers who completed Market Focused during the 2004/2005 season received a certificate acknowledging their commitment to environmental planning on their property. 

Staff increase for Fonterra

In 2005, the Fonterra Environment Team employed three regionally based environment specialists in upper North Island, lower North Island and South Island. Their role is to assist farmers to implement Accord targets as well as other beneficial environmental practices. They also have the task of working closely with regional councils to ensure Regional Action Plans are implemented, and that the ongoing relationship between Fonterra and regional councils is strong at a field level.

4.0. Future work

In 2005/2006, work will focus on areas both within and outside of the five main Accord targets. 

Emphasis on nutrient management

Progress towards the nutrient management target has been slow. The 2005/2006 season will see a major project between Fonterra and Dexcel to extend the topic of nutrient management. Fonterra has also undertaken a large project with Dexcel to help increase farmers’ understanding and implementation of nutrient management. The project has included:

• training of both companies field staff in nutrient budgeting and management
• production of a technical support booklet for farmers
• conducting a nationwide series of field days about nutrient management in March 2006. These aimed at increasing farmers’ knowledge of the importance and benefits of implementing a nutrient management plan. The field days included the local regional council and fertiliser companies.

Nutrient management will remain an important focus of the Accord for the coming seasons.

Compile baseline information for environmental monitoring

Monitoring under the long-term monitoring and reporting strategy will start during the 2005/2006 year. Regional council environmental monitoring staff will collect data in each region.

Three data sources will be used to monitor and report under the strategy. Data from the four Dairying Best Practice Catchments will be used, along with data from the new ‘tier 2’ catchments being set up to measure the effects of Accord actions on a catchment scale. Data from studies of individual Accord actions, such as bridging streams, will also be included in the baseline report to be published by the Ministry for the Environment.   

For more information contact:

Ministry for the Environment
Environment House, 23 Kate Sheppard Place
PO Box 10362
Thorndon, Wellington

Phone: (04) 439 7400
Fax: (04) 4397700
Email: information@mfe.govt.nz

www.mfe.govt.nz

Fonterra Co-operative Group Ltd.
Charlotte Rutherford
Environment Programme Manager
Fonterra Milk Supply

Phone: (07) 850 9866 
Email: charlotte.rutherford@fonterra.com

Acknowledgements

The Accord partners would like to thank the 99 percent of Fonterra suppliers who voluntarily took part in the 2004/2005 On-Farm Environment and Animal Welfare Assessment.