Otago Daily Times: 29 July 2020

NZ farmers doing ‘quite well’ environmentally

Clare Buchanan has been helping farmers to improve their environmental footprints.

Environmental consultancy is a fast-growing profession as compliance pressures continue to bite, Ms Buchanan said.

The role involved visiting farmers, gathering details of the farming operation, noting any “critical source on the farm” and understanding previous seasons’ results.

A Farm Environment Plan (FEP) is then prepared to model a baseline and nutrient losses using Overseer.

“The baseline number is important, as farmers have to reduce from that number going forward and the FEP helps to give context to where and how these losses are occurring so the farmer can work to reduce them,” she said.

Born and bred in Canada, Ms Buchanan studied environmental science before moving to Canterbury six years ago to help out on the family farming business.

“My dad is a New Zealander so I helped with the environmental compliance on the family farm and then I went to work for Ravensdown Environmental.