Overhauling the farm planning system is a positive and pragmatic step forward from the Government, Federated Farmers say.
The Government has announced it intends to improve freshwater farm plans, creating a system that enables farmers to find the right solutions for their farm and catchment.
Farmers will be cautiously optimistic about this news, Federated Farmers freshwater spokesperson Colin Hurst says.
“It’s 100% the right thing to do. Farmers support farm plans as a tool for improving environmental outcomes, but they need to be practical and cost-effective.
“The current system is incredibly frustrating, with a lot of unnecessary cost, complexity and duplication. There are huge opportunities for the Government to make improvements.
“We’ve been calling for urgent and significant changes to make the whole process simpler and more affordable for farmers, so it’s good to finally see some movement.”
Fixing unworkable freshwater rules was one of Federated Farmers’ 12 key policy changes for restoring farmer confidence during last year’s General Election.
“It’s absolutely critical for the Government to get this right,” Hurst says.
“Farmers don’t want another expensive ‘box ticking’ exercise that ties us up in endless red tape and arbitrary paperwork for very little environmental gain.
“Farm plans allow farmers and rural communities to tailor their environmental improvement actions to match their specific local needs.”
Hurst says this will lead to much better outcomes, and more community buy-in, than impractical and expensive one-size-fits-all rules driven out of Wellington.
“At face value, this is a really positive step forward for both farmers and the environment, but the devil is always going to be in the detail.
“It’s good to see the Government talking about taking a risk-based approach, where the level of plan you need to put in place is determined by your specific catchment and farming activity.
“It’s also really encouraging that they’re looking at how existing sector or council farm plans could be recognised or integrated, because over 10,000 farmers already have a plan in place.”
Hurst says this announcement will leave many farmers in a state of limbo, wondering if they should get a freshwater farm plan under the current rules or wait for changes.
“The Government needs to address this uncertainty by extending timelines in regions that already have freshwater farm plan requirements in place.
“Councils have already started implementing freshwater farm plan rules, but it makes no sense to force farmers to comply when we know the rules are about to change.”
In the Government’s announcement on April 10, Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard said farmers faced an avalanche of regulation under the last Government, including its national Freshwater Farm Plans system.
“Using property and catchment specific farm plans makes sense because they can be used to identify environmental risks and plan practical on-farm actions to manage those risks.
“The current system is too costly and complex, and too broadly applied. We want to make sure the cost of completing a farm plan, in both time and money, is matched with the level of risk.”
Hoggard said it’s important that councils and the community can have confidence in the robustness of the freshwater farm plan system as an alternative to local rules and consents, where and when appropriate.
“We believe farm plans should be able to highlight the work many farmers and growers are already doing to reduce the impact of farming activities on the freshwater environment.”
Several regions have already started implementing freshwater farm plans in specific areas, including Waikato, Southland, the West Coast, Otago, and Manawatū-Whanganui.
The Government wants an enduring system that builds on the good work of farmers in those regions, while ensuring any improvements to the system don’t result in sudden changes to plans already being developed, Hoggard said.
“We are exploring how to make any changes fair for all farmers. As part of this, we may look into whether current requirements to complete a freshwater farm plan could be paused while improvements are developed.”
Agriculture Minister Todd McClay said decisions will be considered alongside the Government’s overall approach to freshwater management, including stock exclusion and winter grazing.
“We have heard that many in the sector would like existing environmental programmes to be recognised in the freshwater farm plan system.”
He said officials are considering ways to integrate existing farm environment plans or industry assurance programmes in the system.
Federated Farmers, New Zealand’s leading independent rural advocacy organisation, has established a news and insights partnership with AgriHQ, the country’s leading rural publisher, to give the farmers of New Zealand a more informed, united and stronger voice. Feds news and commentary appears each week in its own section of the Farmers Weekly print edition and online.
