Canterbury Farm Monitoring Shows Huge Environmental ProgressData showing Canterbury farmers have made giant strides on environmental performance under a farm plan model highlights the worth of that tool, Federated Farmers vice president Colin Hurst says. "The huge progress on stock and nutrient management, handling effluent, pinpointing erosion risk and other aspects covered by these plans shows the vast majority of farmers are highly motivated to lift their game," Hurst says. The next big change expected in Canterbury, and around the rest of New Zealand, is the rollout of Freshwater Farm Plans, or as farmers know them, farm plans. With the overhaul of the Resource Management Act, the Government has said that farm plans will be a key tool. Hurst says Federated Farmers agrees that farm plans should become the primary compliance tool where there is a risk to the environment.