South sets bar higher for dairy farming
The Southland Water and Land Plan will make it harder for farmers to get resource consent for new dairy farms and dairy farm expansion.
The plan, three years in the making, was released today, but will not become operative until 2019.
Closer management of dairy cow farming is critical to improving water quality in Southland, the plan released by Environment Southland says.
New or expanded dairy farming in Southland is a ‘‘restricted discretionary activity’’ that requires a consent, it says.
’’If you don’t meet the criteria, you will need to apply for a non-complying consent.’’
Consent for new or expanded dairy farming will, however, be granted if farmers can operate in a way that does not increase contaminant losses to waterways.
Under the plan, dairy farming established before June 2016 will continue as a permitted activity if there have been no increase in cow numbers or the size of the dairy platform since then.
‘‘It’s going to become harder to expand or convert [to dairy farming],’’ Environment Southland chairman Nicol Horrell said.
‘‘It’s certainly a higher bar. Most managed to get consent before, whereas there will be more cases where it will certainly be much harder.’’
Farmers applying for consent would have to prove they were not putting more pressure on the environment, he said. Areas with high nitrogen levels would find it more difficult to get consent, he indicated.
The plan gave Environment Southland tools to manage issues that affected water quality, Horrell said.
The adoption of the plan, which aims to improve water quality in Southland, was three years in the making and a milestone for Environment Southland, he said. Almost 950 public submissions were lodged to the first draft of the plan, with 278 submissioners fronting up at the protracted hearing before five hearing commissioners in various locations last year.
Many farmers were critical of the draft plan, saying it was, impractical, unworkable and not economically feasible.
However, Horrell said the final plan had ‘‘substantially improved’’ as it went through the public notification process, and was more user friendly and simplified.
Other key planks of the plan include: Dairy cows, deer, pigs and beef cattle all excluded from waterways [not sheep], but occasional river crossings are permitted for stock, except for dairy cows.
All farms over 20 hectares must have a farm environmental management plan that sets out how farming activities are managed to minimise contaminant losses.
The nine physiographic zones in Southland, based on soil type, water origin and more, are no longer referred to in the plan rules but are used to inform plan policies that aim to avoid adverse environmental effects.
Up to 15 per cent of a farm, or a maximum 100 hectares, can be intensively grazed during winter if certain criteria are met, with consent required for more. Intensive winter grazing involves grazing stock between May and September on forage crops.
A 5-metre setback from waterways applies to areas that are winter grazed.
Farmers will be allowed to cultivate slopes up to 20 degrees, or up to 800m above sea level, provided permitted criteria are met. Cultivation on steeper land will require a consent.
Cultivation is not permitted within 5 metres of a waterway without consent, except for once every five years to renew or establish pasture.
Multiple feed pads are permitted per site, with conditions.
New agricultural effluent storage facilities will need an impermeable concrete or synthetic lining and be under 35 cubic metres. The plan was not confined to addressing farming practices. Territorial authorities also had an obligation to improve water quality, it says.
‘‘The discharge of contaminated water from a stormwater system is subject to discretionary consent.’’
Territorial authorities needed to implement methods that improved discharge quality over time, including having a management plan and monitoring.
The five hearing commissioners were chair Rob Van Voorthuysen, iwi representative Edward Ellison, and Environment Southland councillors Lloyd McCallum, Eric Roy and Maurice Rodway.
If the plan is appealed, the parties will go into mediation, and, if differences cannot be resolved, it will go to the Environment Court.