Fonterra announces Plant for Good initiative at AGM

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Fonterra has announced a new initiative called Plant for Good which will help farmers save time and money while they save the environment.

Plant for Good is a partnership between Fonterra's Farm Source and progressive ecological consultancy Wildlands.

Fonterra chairman John Monaghan launched the initiative, which aimed to reduce the cost of on-farm native planting, at the co-op's AGM yesterday.

Planting was an important part of the solution to environmental challenges faced by farmers said Monaghan, "but it's estimated that nearly half of what's planted doesn't survive because they aren't the right for the region, climate or soil".

To combat this, Plant for Good guaranteed a survival rate of at least 90 per cent for the first 24 months, due to expert plant selection, regionally sourced plants and ongoing maintenance from Wildlands.

Richard Allen, Director of Farm Source at Fonterra, told The Country Early Edition's Rowena Duncum, the initiative was "really exciting".

"This is a partnership we've been working pretty hard on at Farm Source with Wildlands ... it's awesome to be able to launch a full service offering exclusively to our farmers".

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Fonterra was "immensely proud" of the riparian planting already undertaken by its farmers, but the process was still a "huge investment" in time and money said Allen, who hoped Plant for Good would help in those areas.

"If we're talking for every thousand plants that goes onto a farm, you're looking upwards of 200 hours and we all know farmers have more and more to do - there's no shortage of things to do on-farm.

"[Also] 50 per cent of plants that are being put in aren't actually surviving. So by the time you put the first lot in and then you replant the replacements, you're looking up at around $6000 for every 1000 plants that go in".

Plant for Good offered a full service, which included the delivery, planting and ongoing maintenance of 1000 plants, along with Wildlands' 90 per cent survival rate guarantee to all Farm Source customers nationwide at a discounted rate said Allen.

"While [it's] a little bit more up front. We think it's a really awesome long term service for our farmers".