A lancewood is ready for planting out. Along with hundreds of other plants, it's appreciated the recent rainfall. Photo / Christine McKay
With 7km of creeks fenced and a farm which crosses four waterways, Paul and Lisa Charmley are very aware of their responsibilities as dairy farmers in regards to the environment.
One of many farms in a Horizons Regional Council One Plan priority catchment, the Charmleys take their obligations seriously.
"We are in the midst of getting our One Plan consent and while I believe we are fulfilling our part of the environmental requirements, uncertainty over the plan at the moment leaves me with a horrible sick feeling in my stomach," Lisa said.
"But we've got to remind ourselves we are doing the right thing and our philosophy is about leaving the land in a better condition than when we came here."
The Environmental Defence Society, and Fish and Game New Zealand, have been to the Environment Court to challenge the way Horizons Regional Council is implementing the One Plan.
"We are concerned Horizons hasn't been implementing its regional plan lawfully, particularly when dealing with resource consent applications for intensive farming and dairy conversions," Environmental Defence Society chief executive Gary Taylor said.
John Barrow, Dannevirke dairy farmer and Horizons councillor for Tararua, said the court process was "all fairly complicated".
"In summary, a lot of the case revolved around matters of discretion and whether Horizons has applied matters of discretion appropriately," he told the Dannevirke News.
"There seemed to be a consensus regarding the need for Horizons to amend the One Plan nutrient management rules if it wanted to avoid confusion around the current approach."
Mr Barrow said there was no indication as to when the judge's decision will be made public.
Nick Peet, Horizons group manager, strategy and regulation, told the Dannevirke News he couldn't comment on the specifics of the court case, but appreciated farmers are anxious.
"They are justifiably so, because it's quite a scary process going through a resource consent anyway," he said.
So far 200 dairy farms have been through the One Plan consent process, while farmers in the Upper Manawatu catchment, which includes Tararua, are the midst of theirs.
"It's important for the community and the regional council to be aware of the ongoing improvement we are seeing in terms of the Manawatu River catchment," Mr Peet said.
"Not everywhere is perfect, with still a way to go, but bacteria and e.coli levels are going in the right direction and this is a result of everyone's collective efforts - farmers and district councils."
For the Charmleys and other dairy farmers uncertainty is unsettling.
"The implications and outcomes of the Environment Court is a huge unknown at the moment, but we feel as though we are pulling our weight," Lisa said.
"There has been a huge fundamental change in farming, with a great relationship between Horizons and farmers."
Although the debt levels on the Charmley's 300 Kiwicross cow farm have been high, the couple's commitment to the environment is also huge.
"We didn't want to scrimp on environmental stuff, even when things got tight," Lisa said.
"The environment needs to be the key driver for the dairy industry and I think the time for production at any cost has gone. We've come to a crossroads. Do we intensify or have lean management systems? "
Winning the Hills Laboratories Soil Management award in the 2014 Ballance Farm Environment awards put the Charmleys on track to enhance and protect their farm environment and this year Lisa has 1500 native plants she's raised from cuttings and seeds ready for planting.
And to help, Paul installed a new timer-controlled watering system as Lisa's Christmas present.
Over the next two and a half years the Charmleys and their farm workers, Andrew Campbell and Jay Singh, are hoping to get all the riparian planting completed.
"Our workers have a great sense of pride in what we're doing too," Lisa said.
Community spirit was also to the fore when Lisa began growing her own plants last year.
"I put an advertisement in the Dannevirke News for little pots and people came out of the woodwork, it's been amazing," she said.
"I'm trying to do this on a budget of $1000 a year, (60 cents a pot) and by taking cuttings and growing from seeds, it's eco-sourcing, something for nothing.
"It's that number eight wire stuff. We are farmers and we are resourceful and we've got to remind ourselves we are doing the right thing."
Paul is a fourth-generation farmer on the block at Te Rehunga, close to the Ruahine Ranges and this year the couple are on target to produce 130,000kg of milk solids.
"The grass is bolting out of the ground and Paul is focused on System 2 farming, keeping our costs low," Lisa said.
"He uses bit-by-bit grazing with the focus on growing clover.
"We've learned if you get your soil conditions right you can grow clover and the grazing system means everything goes into the vat."
By using bit-by-bit grazing the cows are break-fed the paddock throughout the day rather than getting the whole paddock at once.
Finalists again this year in the Ballance Environment awards, Lisa said it isn't about winning, but about keeping on track environmentally.
Technology plays a big part in the farming business and investing in a CDAX tow-behind last season has been a time saver.
"The guys can drive around all the paddocks in two hours, with the results fed into the computer by Bluetooth," Lisa said.
"The $45,000 investment has more than paid for itself. We know how much feed and cover we've got because the CDAX takes all the guesswork out of it."
Another gadget paying for itself is a drone which Paul uses to capture mating activity.
"All we need is to pick up two cows which otherwise would have gone down the road," Lisa said.
On a lighter note, the drone was also used to demonstrate dairy farming technology to worker Jay Singh's wife when she arrived from India, with the Charmley's sending ice-creams to the Singhs' home.