The dairy industry and Hawke’s Bay Regional Council have adopted the shared goal to achieve 100% compliance with all resource consents, and are 80% towards the goal, celebrated at the Dairy Compliance Awards.

The Dairy Compliance Awards recognise Hawke’s Bay dairy farmers who consistently achieve full compliance with their resource consents.

This is the eighth year of the Dairy Awards, covering water takes, farm dairy effluent and air discharge consents.

Over the years, overall compliance has improved from 71% in 2012-13 to 80% in 2019-20.

At Thursday’s event, 38 of 75 farms had been fully compliant for five years. Fourteen farms have been fully compliant since the scheme began in 2008-09. Three farms were recognised at the Silver 4-year level.

Hawke’s Bay Regional Council policy and regulation group manager Katrina Brunton congratulated each of the awarded dairy farms.

“The scheme is important, and we are committed to work in partnership with the sector, and work through challenges together and continue to celebrate progress,” she says.

“We work closely with individual operators to help them achieve environmental compliance, which is crucial to the long-term success of dairy farming.”

“We acknowledge the dairy sector’s important contribution to our economy in what has been a difficult year with the challenge of COVID-19 and lockdown,” she says.

Central Hawkes Bay dairy farmer Elliot Cooper says he and other farms acknowledge the work of the Regional Council and staff to help farmers.

“It’s definitely a partnership between us and the Council. We don’t go it alone. It’s not an easy job for the Council, with so much regulation coming down the pipeline, and we appreciate what they do.”

The Dairy Awards are supported by sponsors Ravensdown, Farmlands, Fonterra and Stoney Creek.

Ravensdown’s senior agri manager Thomas Taylor recognised the great work of dairy farmers in Hawke’s Bay running fully compliant operations.

“We’re proud of our partnership with the sector and congratulate these people on managing their farms in an environmentally responsible way,” he says.

Tony Haslett, Fonterra’s Hawke’s Bay area manager, says in the future, there will be incentives through milk payments for farmers to obtain supply standards in which compliance with the regulator will be important.

Rhys Hellyer from Farmlands says the company was pleased to be a sponsor for such a positive award scheme.

The council handed out Stoney Creek’s Rammer Jackets as spot prizes at the awards on Thursday. Stoney Creek’s Nigel Wilson says it’s great to sponsor the event for the first time, and support dairy farmers.

Dairy Compliance Awards 2020 recipients (in alphabetical order):

GOLD Award (38)

SILVER Award (3)

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