The earthquake caused significant damage in the Kaikoura district, with various farms sustaining extensive land damage and drainage issues.
The Kaikoura Plains Recovery Project is being funded by the Ministry of Primary Industries’ (MPI) earthquake recovery fund for three years. Project manager Jodie Hoggard said the focus was on assisting farmers with post-earthquake recovery, which included "whole catchment recovery" and improving water quality.
"Farm visits earlier in the year identified drainage as a big issue, so we have been doing some work getting some trials in place to explore some different measures.
"There is still a lot water sitting around the place, so the way you manage your place is important."
Funding was also available through MPI to assist farmers in identifying ways to future-proof their earthquake-damaged farms. Mrs Hoggard encouraged farmers to get in now and apply for the up to $5000 funding available to each farm.
She said one farmer was using the money to hire an ecological consultant to prepare a planting plan for retiring areas of the farm.
"The funding is available for two years and we are nearly a year into it.
"It’s early days yet, so it’s hard to know whether the land will settle a bit more or whether some land will no longer be viable for farming."
She said some areas may need to become wetlands, for example, if the funding was available.
Mrs Hoggard said the project has been working with Fonterra and planned to run field days on farming in wet conditions and irrigation efficiency in a bid to address the drainage and flooding challenges.
The earthquake damage meant farm environment plans needed to be revised. Fonterra had been encouraging farmers to use an interactive farm environment plan programme so they could be revised more easily, she said.
"It means the farm environment plans are a live document, so it’s not just something you prepare and then file away and forget about, which is a step in the right direction. "
Fonterra has been visiting farmers to ensure their plan was usable in the post-quake environment. One farmer had to get an effluent spraying consent reviewed as the paddocks consented for the spraying were flooded, meaning the plan was no longer practical, she said.
