Bill ‘grossly underestimated’
The bill for sheep and beef farmers to meet proposed freshwater standards has been ‘‘grossly underestimated’’ and could run into the millions of dollars per farm, research shows.
Beef + Lamb New Zealand wants the Government to reconsider its controversial freshwater proposals after research found the cost to farmers would be much higher than first estimated.
Rural consultancy firm Baker Ag put the total cost of meeting the proposed changes at between $2.4 million and $3.4m per farm over 10 years, significantly more than the Ministry for the Environment’s estimate of $148,500 over a decade.
In its report, commissioned by Beef + Lamb, Baker Ag said hill country farms faced the highest costs, largely due to challenges with fencing and providing alternative stock water supplies.
These costs had been ‘‘grossly underestimated’’ by the ministry, it said.
Fencing to keep stock out of waterways was substantially higher on hill country where steep land made the task more difficult and time consuming, four wire electric fences were the minimum standard for practicality and establishing alternative water supplies was more expensive.
Baker Ag estimated capital costs of $185,000 for a mixed cropping farm and $680,000 for a hill country sheep and beef farm, with ongoing compliance costs of $35,000 to $80,000 a year.
Its report put net future income losses at between $95,000 and $184,000 per farm through ‘‘grandparenting’’, which would lock sheep and beef farms into their current stocking rates and land uses, and fencing requirements.
Beef + Lamb chairman Andrew Morrison said the analysis showed the actual costs of meeting the proposed regulations were far higher than estimated and went beyond what the sector needed to do to manage its risks.
‘‘In their current form, the freshwater proposals will penalise low emitters and adversely affect sheep and beef farmers more than any other sector.’’
The grandparenting provisions would prevent farms with low nitrogen discharge levels from making even small changes to their systems to address issues like sediment and phosphorous, Morrison said.
‘‘The way the current policies are written would also require sheep and beef farmers to fence nearly all of their farms.
‘‘For those New Zealanders who haven’t been on a sheep and beef farm, this would mean fencing off thousands of kilometres of waterways with little environmental benefit.’’
In its submission, Beef + Lamb recommended:
■ Removing the grandparenting and fencing provisions and adopting an industry approach to support sheep and beef farmers to improve freshwater quality.
■ Allowing hill country cropping as a permitted activity with careful management of soil type and discharge.
■ Amending land-use change restrictions, particularly the moratorium on forestry to pastoral conversion, and allowing extensive farming to diversify into other extensive or low environmental impact systems.
■ Using tailored land and environment plans to manage stock access to waterways or exclusion in hill country.
■ A focus on the identification and management of critical water source areas and proper stock management.