The $35m Extension Services Programme is part of the Labour-led coalition’s $229m Sustainable Land Use package.
Up to 2200 farmers are set to receive help in selected regions over the next four years.
The extension is meant to help farmers share their knowledge, “asking tough questions of one another within trusted circles, and coming up with practical solutions to issues,” the Ministry for Primary Industries says.
A project has been announced in Southland and more are planned for Kaipara, King Country, Hurunui and Ellesmere.
In North Canterbury, the Hurunui District Landcare Group (HDLG) is calling for farmers’ ideas and hopes to have a project underway by mid-2020.
A HDLG-run workshop in the sheep and beef-farming community of Scargill touched on some of the challenges in the region, including divisions between the dryland and dairy communities, counterproductive regulation, overwhelming pace of change and fatigue in the face of “bullying” by a public that didn’t understand agriculture.
Former North Canterbury Federated Farmers president Lynda Murchison said farmers sometimes struggled for acceptance as experts in their field.
She said regulatory policy “often told farmers what to do” while agri-scientists were also inclined to tell farmers what to do, assuming that “dumb” farmers needed the help.
Several farmers at Scargill said they felt the public don’t know/understand what’s going on. Feedback included: “Bullying…people scared to say they are farmers…bullying of farmers, or lifestyle blockers by farmers…bullying between different farmers in the community.”
Division was deep-rooted and caused by a policy process that divided people, a workshop group reported.
“A community project could deal with the division. We are not a farming type – we are all one community,” some said.
The meeting also canvassed positives about the Hurunui community, such as confidence that the community would pull together in a crisis, like the aftermath of the Kaikoura earthquake, or drought.
The community also had a powerful sense of belonging.
“We are intergenerational. We have experience. We have knowledge,” one of the workshop groups reported.
Farmers were proud to be farmers, wanted to share each other’s stories and were determined to maintain and build the land for future generations.
That feeling created a sense of belonging to farms, family and community.
“We work with the land. We’re not just here to make money. We have a beer, enjoy life, enjoy family. We are continuously improving,” the meeting heard.
Looking ahead, a suggested MPI-funded sustainability projects was drought-proofing farms and particular projects such as growing natives in waterways.
There was a general call for more coherent, credible information about the work that farmers did to sustain their environment. It would be helpful if farmers had access to more data on the impact of nitrate on fish life, for instance.
Information would have to be free of vested interests and give the pros and cons of various approaches, farmers agreed.
HDLG was formed three years ago after a group of mostly sheep and beef farmers lobbied successfully for a review of the proposed “10% rule” limiting nutrient use on farms in the Hurunui-Waiau catchment.
HDLG co-ordinator, Josh Brown, said the group decided after the 10% campaign that it needed to change direction to ensure it met the community’s wider needs. HDLG had since worked with Beef + Lamb NZ (B+LNZ) on the development of Farm Environmental Plans (FEP) and more than 80% of the group now had an FEP. HDLG also worked with Environment Canterbury to run a Hill Country Erosion control programme for the Hurunui and Kaikoura districts.
That type of catchment programme has not been seen in Canterbury since the end of the Catchment Boards and was an unprecedented opportunity for the area’s farmers to access funding and expertise for soil conservation, Brown said.
HDLG hopes to hold another workshop meeting for the extension programme at Culverden in January.
The Government’s sustainable land use funding also set aside about $12m to support Māori landowners and agribusinesses and $5 million for improving the capability of primary industry advisers. An additional $43m will go toward improving the accuracy and adaptability of Overseer and other decision support tools.
