As of October 2019, Farm Environment Plans are an essential tool to meet incoming, stricter regulations. This has come about as the government has launched new National Policy Statements and as a result Regional Councils will be directed to meet proposals with management standards.

NZGAP – has been approved as an interim measure by Ministry of Environment and provides various resources including an FEP template. View these on their website here.

Potatoes New Zealand’s efforts: Sustainable Vegetable Systems Project (previously PNZ-79 Emissions Project), has work-streams to develop tools to measure, manage and reduce emissions, including nitrates. Keep up-to-date with the project by following us on Twitter and Facebook and read more about the project to maintain Potato Growers Social and Regulatory license here.

Plan Changes & National Policies 2019-2020

PNZ has made submissions on Waikato’s Plan Change 1, ECAN’s Plan Change 7, Horizons Plan Change 2, National Policy Statement on Highly Productive Land and NPS NES on Freshwater.

The October 7th Government Summary of recommendations and the Minister for the Environment’s decision on amendments to the NPS for Freshwater Management 2020 can be downloaded here.

PNZ events related to Plan Changes and submissions can be found on our events page here.

Resources

Here are Regional Council FEP guidelines we have collected.

Canterbury Regional Council FEP https://www.ecan.govt.nz/your-region/farmers-hub/fep/

Horowhenua/Manawatu Nutrient Management Plan Template

Waikato Region FEP Guide

Central Government Policy Statements & Standards