A donation from the North Otago Irrigation Company (NOIC) will allow the newly re-established North Otago Sustainable Land Management Group (Noslam) to begin its vision for the district.
That vision is to create an integrated team approach to sustainable land and water quality management for the greater good of both farmers and the community.
In March last year, NOIC received an Irrigation New Zealand innovation award including cash prize of $2500 which, in turn, it has given to Noslam to be used as a seeding grant.
Noslam's goals to promote a healthy environment with all North Otago farmers by identifying measures that secured and improved the environment and considered the economic and social issues and constraints, resonated strongly with the company, NOIC chief executive Robyn Wells said.
Noslam was first established by a group of farmers in the 1990s to find a smarter way of managing the district's fragile soils while also reaching a higher level of productivity on their properties.
It was disestablished in the early 2000s, following a heightened level of productivity, increased farmer confidence in their own abilities and the advent of irrigation systems such as the NOIC scheme.
The region now faced a different realm of changes including winter soil management and the implementation of regional council water plan changes, which had led to its revival.
''With the complexity of these issues, as well as continued soil management in mind, the need for collaboration of all farmers, with regulators and the wider community, is a real one,'' committee member Jane Smith said.
• A ''wintering for success'' field day is being held at Mitchell and Webster's property, on the corner of Waiareka Valley Rd and Springhill Rd, near Kia Ora, on Friday between 10.45am and 1pm.
Speakers include Peter Mitchell and Nick Webster from Mitchell and Webster, Jane Smith from Noslam, Dylan Robertson from the Otago Regional Council, Jodi Leckie from NOIC, Tom Orchiston from AgResearch, Dave Walsh from Seed Force, and Hugh Eaton from Macfarlane Rural Business.