Freshwater farm plans have had a lot of attention over the last couple of years, with a lot of the narrative being negative. Whether it’s been their unworkability, or being wrapped in politics to further draw lines in the sand, the focus on these plans has not always been about their content, but they have instead become a vehicle to express wider frustrations regarding issues affecting Ag.
This is not to say that the process proposed with these plans was great, however when focus is purely on cost (financial or other perceived ‘loss’) we lose the opportunity to explore the benefits. This blog seeks to look beyond compliance and go through the benefits that a freshwater farm plan can provide you and your farming business. We’ll start by going over what a FWFP contains, and then break down some of the benefits that come from going through this process on farm.

What does a freshwater farm plan contain?
A freshwater farm plan (or FWFP) provides a way for farmers to understand the interactions between their farming system and the freshwater environment. By understanding these interactions, risks to the environment are able to be identified and managed by prioritising on-farm actions using a risk-based approach.

Mapping is an essential part of a FWFP and provides a great way to communicate key natural features of your farm, as well as areas of risk and, current and future actions. In the beginning of developing a FWFP, mapping is focused on recording the key natural features and resources of your farm. Information for maps are based off the best possible information that a farmer has access to. Unfortunately, access to good farm scale soil data etc. is not universal across New Zealand or within a region. Therefore, the focus is not on paying thousands to get better information, but to utilise the information that is accessible regarding your farm.
Key maps include:
- Soil types, or key characteristics (e.g. poorly drained, well draining etc.)
- Slope, elevation and aspect
- Land use capability (LUC)
- Land Management Units (LMU)
- Water bodies and waterways
- Critical source areas
- Areas of erosion on farm

Once Land Management Units (LMUs) are defined and maps of natural resources have been completed, the focus turns to understanding the connections between your farm practices/management and the freshwater environment.
The first step is risk identification. Risks may be related to natural resources (e.g. poorly drained soils), farming activities (e.g. nutrient application), or a combination of both (e.g. winter grazing in an area susceptible to runoff). By identifying risks, it allows for a clear indication of the areas on farm that require management to reduce negative impacts on the freshwater environment.
Risk identification is followed by risk management. There may be some confusion regarding how this is intended in a FWFP. The purpose of risk management is not to say that a farmer has not been doing anything to take positive actions to reduce environmental impacts, but rather allows reflection on two questions:
- What are the existing action(s) to manage this risk?
- Are the existing actions sufficient to manage the risk?
If the actions are sufficient to manage the risk, that’s great!! We know there are so many great mitigation actions being undertaken on-farm all over the country. Likewise, if a risk is identified and the management isn’t sufficient, that’s okay too! It simply means that there is a need to identify a reasonable action that can be put in place to help manage this risk into the future.
The final piece of the plan is about action planning. There are two types of actions that this refers to:
- Existing actions: actions that are to be continued
- For many farmers existing actions may make up the bulk of their action plan.
- These could be actions such as only winter grazing on a particular soil type or LMU, continued stock exclusion from critical source areas, or ensuring best practice when applying nutrients.
- For many farmers existing actions may make up the bulk of their action plan.
- New actions: actions that are to be implemented
- New actions are for those risks that were identified as not currently being managed sufficiently.
- For example, there may be a need to undertake riparian planting around waterways and water bodies.
- The action plan needs to be practical, fair and reasonable. Instead of something unattainable like ‘have all riparian areas planted by 2027’, it can be smaller and more achievable such as ‘riparian plant along the creek in paddock 10 by winter 2026, paddock 11 by winter 2027’.
- The actions that are able to be implemented are better than those that aren’t. You have more impact by implementing actions in chunks than you do of aiming too high and implementing no action at all.
- New actions are for those risks that were identified as not currently being managed sufficiently.
What benefits can a freshwater farm plan provide?
While the focus of FWFPs so far has largely been centered around use for compliance, or needing something similar for farm assurance programmes, there hasn’t been a lot of talk about what benefits developing a FWFP provides the farmer.
Let’s park the focus on what undertaking a FWFP could provide for others. What benefits can it provide for YOU and your farming business?

One of the primary benefits of undertaking the FWFP process is to gain a deeper understanding of your natural resources on farm. By understanding the strengths of your soil and land classes, as well as their limitations and vulnerabilities, farmers are able to ensure that their management of the environment is supported by the best possible information. This information is invaluable and once you have it, you have it for life.
Identifying and mapping your critical source areas, flow pathways etc. also provides a unique opportunity to ensure that you have detailed information regarding how freshwater systems behave on your farm. Identifying these, having reference material through maps, and understanding where the biggest risks are, provides an opportunity to really ensure that your farm system and environment are working together, not against each other.

Understanding the connections between the natural environment, freshwater systems and your farming systems can give incredible insight into what is working well and what areas there may be room to adapt to improve outcomes for land and business. Again, having your farm system and natural environment working in sync, rather than against each other, can allow for areas of farm that are more suited to support certain activities to be determined. Determining what works best where on farm to maintain or increase production, while also managing the environmental impact has benefits for profit and planet – two critical pieces of the farming puzzle.

Communication is a critical component of any farming business. Having information in a form that can be easily communicated, such as maps and key details about your land resource, can make sharing information with people that require it much easier. There’s a lot stored in farmers heads about their land and farming systems but the FWFP allows for all to be on the same page, whether its family, staff, managers or other advisors, through effective communication of information.
Easier communication of what actions are being undertaken on farm, what the next priorities are, and plans for implementation, is also another benefit. It provides a way for it to get out of the head, and ensure that focus is on the areas it needs to be, and that focus can be easily shared with all who need to be up to speed.

We all know the importance of data and information. There are many pieces of information gathered on farm to make informed decisions, whether it be about feed, animals, reproduction and so on. You wouldn’t want to make decisions without this information. It’s the same for managing your farm system and its interactions with freshwater. The more informed you are with quality information that can help guide decisions, the better equipped you are to make decisions that are relevant, of greatest importance and have an actual impact on farm.

Being informed of risks and their importance has a critical flow on effect to allowing for the prioritisation of actions. We know that money is tight and we can’t do all the things we wish to do on farm to mitigate impacts. However, if we are informed we can ensure that our prioritisation is focused on highest risk and greatest ability to have a positive impact on freshwater. It also allows for prioritisation of funds if coupled with an action plan that is budgeted and breaks down what needs to be done, the costs associated, and how these steps will be implemented. Create focus in your time and efforts, spend your money well and effectively, and have the impact you desire.
Undertaking the process of freshwater farm planning has the potential to provide significant benefits to you and your farming business. Greater understanding, implementing targeted and prioritised change, and documenting what is being done on farm is only the beginning. While the focus has been on the challenges or what is wrong with the system, we have lost sight of how these plans can benefit the farmer. We hope that this blog has communicated that the ultimate beneficiary of the benefits of a robust freshwater farm plan based on best information and strategic intentions is the farmer and their business, not the government.
Starting on this journey can be daunting and it can feel overwhelming where to begin. Understandably so, but it needn’t be. We are passionate about ensuring that farmers are able to access help to realise the benefits that freshwater farm plans can provide. If you want to understand more, talk about the context of how you can get these benefits for your farming business, or figure out where to start, we are here to support you.


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