Sarah Dirks on DairyNZ's Step Change programme

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The Step Change programme is more than just helping farmers reduce emissions, DairyNZ's farm business specialist Sarah Dirks says.

DairyNZ's Step Change is designed to help dairy farmers achieve financial gains, while making progress towards environmental goals and adapting to pending regulations.

"We're saying, how can we help farmers increase their profitability, while reducing environmental footprint," Dirks told The Country Sport Breakfast's Brian Kelly.

An environmental footprint included keeping an eye on water quality as well as emissions, Dirks said.

"These policies can often be developed in isolation, but our role in DairyNZ is thinking - how does this all fit within the farm system and how would a farmer apply this in their own business?"

The Step Change programme had two phases. The first was helping farmers know their numbers. The second was helping farming identify the options, Dirks said.

Helping farmers with numbers meant giving them an understanding of where their profit performance was at, and what emissions were currently coming off the farm, Dirks said.

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Once farmers understood these numbers they could start to explore their options, which Dirks likened to thinking about a house renovation.

"First you have to understand all the unique characteristics of the renovation that you want to do and then as you go on the journey of looking at how you'll develop this, you start to understand what the best options are for you."

DairyNZ is running nine Step Change events in March and April called "Explore Your Options."

"We have this amazing opportunity to showcase these wonderful farmers who have already started on this journey of reducing their footprint and increasing profit."

"You could think of it, using the renovation analogy, like a show of homes," Dirks said.

Find out more about DairyNZ's Explore Your Options events here.

Find out more about the Step Change programme here.