Date: May 28, 2025
Over the past few months, the balance sustainability team has been running regionally tailored workshops to support farmers in building NZFAP-Plus aligned plans. Backed by The Deer Industry (DINZ), Rabobank, and ANZCO, the workshops have focused on giving farmers practical, hands-on support; something that has been well received.
Each session was shaped around local catchment needs and had a high facilitator to participant ratio to make sure that farmers got the help they needed while working on their plans.
Feedback from facilitators was very encouraging:
“We have received some very positive feedback from farmers who attended the workshops. The QCONZ FWFP tool has definitely contributed to the positive feedback. Farmers would tell us pretty quickly if it wasn’t hitting the mark,” says Peter Thomas, Farm Sustainability Manager at Ballance.
“We like the QCONZ FWFP tool as it is online and future-proofs their plans because the tool can be updated as plan requirements evolve. We’ve had a range of abilities at the workshops and sometimes farmers are a little bit anxious or unsure about the technology aspect, but we tend to find by the end of the workshop they are quite comfortable with it, and we are always impressed with the progress they’ve made.”
“We’ve had the odd comment that it could be simplified, but then it probably would not meet the regulatory requirements.”
“A big benefit for doing the plan is it’s good for helping farmers understand where the risks are on their farm. Another one is they realise a lot of the day-to-day things they are doing on their farm are good management practice and have an environmental benefit to their property.”
What farmers said:
“The way we were taken through a very complex subject was top notch. The almost one on one attention from the team meant we went away with a good understanding of farm plans.”
“Thank you for the FAP session, it was very well run and presented and made it all feel doable instead of overwhelming!”
“Thanks very much for bringing the session to Gore, it’s great to know there is support within ANZCO to support us in achieving this accreditation.”
With knowledgeable facilitators and a hands-on approach, the workshop format provided an effective way to support on-farm change.
Other news
The “Reducing Sprains and Strains” project has been named as a finalist in the New Zealand Workplace Health and Safety Awards 2025. Delivering Practical Solutions for Dairy Farmers The three-year “Reducing Sprains and Strains” project was launched by DairyNZ in 2021 with the goal of reducing sprain and strain injuries on New Zealand dairy farms.
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The NZIPIM 2024 National Conference, held at Mystery Creek, Waikato, on the 19th and 20th of August, brought together industry professionals to discuss the future of New Zealand’s agricultural landscape.
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Fieldays 2024 was a fantastic opportunity to present our FreshWater Farm Plan (FWFP) tool and reconnect with our clients and wider industry stakeholders.
After an impressive 25-year’s, Murray Pedley, QCONZ’s Major Shareholder, Director, former Board Chair and CEO, has retired.
Murray had the privilege of attending the New Zealand Roundtable for Sustainable Beef’s annual conference and AGM in Christchurch in May.
Justin Moss and Josh Wheeler from QCONZ took a trip to Parliament in May to meet with Hon. Andrew Hoggard to discuss Freshwater Farm Plans (FWFPs). We were excited to share our learnings from the past few years.
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