What is integrated farm planning?
Modern farm businesses are complex. As a farmer or grower, you must manage your land, livestock, crops, people and mental wellbeing, finances, and the environment.
Integrated farm planning is an approach that links these parts of your business together.
Budget 2021 allocated $37 million over 4 years to expand tools and support to help you meet current and future market requirements and environmental regulations.
Budget boost to tackle on-farm emissions – Government media release
Using integrated farm planning will:
- make compliance more efficient by reducing duplication
- make it easier to meet regulatory requirements
- help identify opportunities and risks for future improvement
- assist you to achieve your business goals
- improve information sharing across the primary sector.
Integrated Farm Planning – Fact sheet [PDF, 318 KB]
Cross-sector collaboration
Achieving a more efficient and consistent farm planning system requires a cross-sector effort.
An advisory group made up of senior representatives of industry, regional councils, and government agencies is partnering with us to drive the programme. The group's members are:
- Ministry for the Environment (MfE)
- Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI)
- Agritech NZ
- Beef + Lamb NZ
- DairyNZ
- Deer Industry NZ
- Federated Farmers
- Federation of Māori Authorities
- Foundation for Arable Research (FAR)
- Horticulture NZ
- New Zealand Institute of Primary Industry Management
- Regional council representatives.
Achieving consistent farm planning standards
In May 2021, the Integrated Farm Planning Advisory Group endorsed the Good Farm Planning Principles: Towards Integrated Farm Planning, the first step towards consistency in standards for farm planning.
The guidance document provides guiding principles in key farm management areas:
- people management
- biosecurity
- animal welfare
- greenhouse gases.
It focuses on areas to prioritise and suggests areas for improvement. The document will be updated with information on other key areas, such as freshwater, as they become available.
Good farm planning principles: Towards integrated farm planning [PDF, 1022 KB]
This document contains a commitment from the sector to work with industry assurance programmes, other farm planning initiatives, and catchment groups to incorporate the integrated farm planning approach into their programmes.
Good Farm Planning Principles: The Journey to Integrated Farm Planning 2022 – Annual progress report [PDF, 1.1 MB]
Find out more about integrated farm planning
Integrated farm planning is part of broader efforts to lower agricultural emissions and improve freshwater quality.
Intensive Winter Grazing Module
Integrated farm planning tools and support
Freshwater farm plans – Ministry for the Environment
Primary Industries Advisory Services
Your industry body may also have further information on farm planning on its website.
