Proposed ECan nutrient rules frustrate
A new Environment Canterbury plan governing nutrient management sets the bar too high and will be ‘‘frustrating’’ to implement, some South Canterbury farmers say.
If Plan Change 5, released last on Monday, goes ahead, farmers will have to log into an online ‘‘Farm Portal’’ to give details about their properties and work out an acceptable nutrient amount,.
It is aimed at improving water quality and reducing the effects of farming on water.
Federated Farmers South Canterbury president Mark Adams said farmers had put a huge amount of effort into the plan - but the emerging theme was one of disappointment.
Adams said the effects of the plan change on the livelihoods of South Canterbury farmers were not yet known, but the plan would be ‘‘meaningless’’ if farmers did not see how they could implement the rules.
‘‘While the plan has done some good stuff with dryland farming, when it comes to irrigation and other aspects we can’t see how it’s going to work,’’ he said.
His comments followed midCanterbury farmer Willy Leferink saying farmers, in some cases, would be forced to reduce their herd size, which could send them bankrupt.
Adams said the only way the plan could be challenged now was by way of submissions to the High Court on points of law - and it was too early to say whether Federated Farmers would take that route.
Some of the rules around irrigation were ‘‘just not workable’’, Adams said.
‘‘Farmers will be immediately frustrated and won’t have respect for some of the rules.’’
The plan change would amend the Canterbury Land and Water Regional Plan.
All farming activities on properties greater than 10 hectares would be required to register their farming activity on the Farm Portal, and farmers were also required to prepare a management plan that described the actions to be implemented to achieve good management practice.
Adams said he still did not know exactly what the online ‘‘Farm Portal’’ would look like, but he doubted it would be easy to use.
‘‘Farmers are going to end up accessing an academic tool that they’ve never really had to consider before.’’
Discussions about the plan change were ongoing amongs Federated Farmers, Adams said.
ECan said in a statement the change to the Canterbury Land and Water Regional Plan set ’’good management practice’’- which had already been defined by the industry - as the minimum standard for all farming activities.
Waimate farmer Colin Hurst said he welcomed the new way of calculating the amount of nutrients which could be used on a particular farm based on the area of the activity.
However when it came to irrigation the new rules set ‘‘a really high bar’’, which unachievable.
ECan South Canterbury councillor Peter Skelton said, in a statement, if the area of winter grazing or irrigation on a property exceeded permitted limits, resource consent would be required.
ECan said specific rules relating to the Waitaki catchment - developed through the Upper and Lower Waitaki Zone committees- helped deliver the local community’s aspirations for water quality.
‘‘They will meet the waterquality requirements in the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management in this area.’’
The plan change will be notified on June 24. was almost