Friday, March 29, 2024

A win for Manawatu farmers

Avatar photo
The adoption of a hearing panel’s recommendations for proposed Plan Change 2 (PC2) by the Horizons Regional Council has been welcomed by Federated Farmers and DairyNZ.
Federated Farmers, led by president Andrew Hoggard, is wary of banking on any specific election result, says Allan Barber.
Reading Time: 2 minutes

The decision will provide a pathway for consent for intensive farming land-uses located in 32 Targeted Catchments, effectively opening the door to farmers shut out from gaining consent as a result of 2017 Environment Court declarations, Federated Farmers National president and Manawatu dairy farmer Andrew Hoggard says.

“This gives some certainty for farmers who have been in limbo,” he says.

PC2 is an interim measure to address issues about the One Plan’s workability, while a more region-wide programme is completed to give effect to the Government’s National Policy Statement for Freshwater (NPSF).

The plan change enables a technical update to nitrogen limits  – to reflect Overseer version changes – and also provide an alternative pathway for those who cannot meet these limits.

Those version changes to Overseer had unintentionally made it extremely difficult for some farmers in the region to gain consent to continue farming.

The consent pathway put forward by the council enables farmers to achieve a series of nitrogen loss targets – these vary based on land-use capability class of the farm.

The second option put forward by DairyNZ and Federated Farmers provides a pathway for farms to make a minimum 20% reduction in nitrogen losses from their previous farm baseline numbers.

Consents approved under the two pathways will last for a maximum for 10 years.

Both pathways will now be available for these farmers to seek consent, while looking after the environment, DairyNZ strategy and investment leader Dr David Burger says.

The evidence from both organisations showed the new consent pathway provided balanced environmental and economic benefits. 

“DairyNZ and Federated Farmers have been working to support farmers through this process over the past six years, which has included significant investment,” Burger says.

“After years of uncertainty, this decision now provides clarity for farmers and the community on what targets need to be met and by when.”

Hoggard says he was pleased to see the council and commissioners endorse that approach.

There are sound scientific and economic reasons why the two organisations’ joint proposal made sense, particularly when further work is coming to better understand the catchment and implement the NPSF.

Experts from the two groups demonstrated there was minimal difference in what would be achieved in improving water quality from implementing its proposal versus the council proposal, yet economically, PC2 as proposed would have had a considerable economic impact on farms and the region.

“We look forward to working with Horizons to ensure the plan change can be implemented as seamlessly as possible,” Hoggard says.

“Both options need farmers to make significant nutrient reductions, but give farmers choices as they work to reduce their environmental footprint.

“This is a great win for farmers, local communities and the environment.”

Total
0
Shares
People are also reading