The DairyNZ consultant scientist and former Niwa chief executive was the first keynote speaker to take the stage at the 2013 South Island Dairy Event at Lincoln University.
Speaking to nearly 600 delegates recently, he said environmental limits were one of the biggest things happening in farming. Now was the time to get involved in the process.
''Emotion is our biggest enemy. It is essential to build acceptance and tolerance for what we do,'' Dr Pridmore said.
Dairy farmers had to show they were responsible and trustworthy and that they did not approve of unacceptable behaviour and poor performance in their industry, but that alone was not enough he said.
A lot of people asked why the industry did not prescribe good practice. That told them people did not think they were responsible enough and that someone needed to control them, he said.
It was almost impossible to define good practice, as it meant different things in different situations.
''The term is causing confusion and frustration - we don't know what we're trying to fix.''
In some parts of the country, nitrogen loss was a problem. The conversion of land uses with low nitrogen losses to water, such as forestry, to high losses, such as dairying, had to be controlled, Dr Pridmore said.
''Cows urinate; trees don't. If we could teach trees to urinate, it would be equal.''
Nitrogen loads that gave each catchment good water quality had to be worked out, he said. New Zealand had been behind the rest of the world in this, with a lot of regions continuing too far with growth and dairying conversions.
''No-one stopped us doing conversions. Our job is to run a business and do well. Then regulators ask everyone to compensate. It is called bad planning.''
We were now over-correcting for something that should not have happened, Dr Pridmore said.
A better way was to have self-improvement and social responsibility. The former included good production and land management, building profitability and resiliency, improving on-farm skills and services to farmers, and maximising returns to the industry.
Social responsibility involved fixing issues of concern and showing leadership - such as the milk in schools programme. High community buy-in was needed, so the industry was seen as trustworthy.
Dr Pridmore advocated a ''four-box model''. Stage 1 was identifying the problem. Stage 2 was working out how to fix it. Stage 3 was fixing it. Stage 4 was bragging about it.
''New Zealand now has five superb water quality scientists working on the first box.''
Picking the most cost-effective solutions was crucial in the next stage, he said.
''Money made on farms matters to the community. Once people realise, they care.''
Data from 500 more farms - including 85 more in Canterbury and 35 more in Otago - had to be fed into the DairyBase system to improve economic analysis.
Dr Pridmore advised farmers to make an effort to understand how farming within limits would affect them, and not to overreact by, for example, spending $500,000 on a new effluent system they might not need.
Those who did not want to participate directly should support those who did.
''Rural communities have a strong voice. Don't confuse population size with importance.''
In his 37 years in New Zealand, Dr Pridmore found the strongest communities were in rural areas, he said.