NORTH CANTERBURY SUSTAINABLE FARM SYSTEMS

The North Canterbury Sustainable Farm Systems project assisted with and informed the work plan for the Hurunui-Waiau Zone Committee under the Canterbury Water Management Strategy.

The NZ Landcare Trust project managed this three year project. In addition to NZLT, funding partners included MPI/Sustainable Farming Fund, Environment Canterbury, Deer NZ, BNZ, Beef+Lamb NZ, Meridian and Ngai Tahu Farming. 

Significant progress was made in late 2015. Workshops at Hurunui and Cheviot generated strong support for the formation and incorporation of a Hurunui-Waiau Landcare Group and resources for farmers such as the North Canterbury Landcare Manual and good management practice poster were launched. In addition farmers heard presentations from LandVision’s Lachie Grant who spoke about case studies for the Beef+Lamb NZ Land Environment Plan Level 3. Mark Everest at Macfarlane Rural Business generated a final report on the 10 case studies referencing development options for a cross section of farms across the Hurunui-Waiau Zone.

Further summarised information on these presentations and papers is provided in the ‘Hurunui-Waiau Happenings – December 2015’ newsletter accessed on this project page (as are copies of all the reports and presentations).

In the first two years of the project, catchment groups formed and undertook a variety of valuable tasks – identified objectives, held field days, identified catchment issues. Their work followed on from a survey of farmers in the catchment groupings that profiled farm and land use, behaviours and attitudes, environmental commitment and other factors at play.

Water quality science, understanding of managing phosphorus loss and other topics were brought to the groups as were presentations on Overseer. A number of Land and Environment Plan workshops with Beef+Lamb NZ were held across the catchments, and the Beef+Lamb NZ Farm Environment Plan designed to meet ECAN requirements was developed, trialled and 60 farmers from the groups developed their individual plans.