28,850 copies distributed monthly – to every rural mailbox in Canterbury and the West Coast.
October 2013
INSIDE Farmers are the experts — Page 8–9
Gowanlea — a slice of paradise
Page 15
Canterbury A&P Show Page 22
The truth about agroforestry
CONTACT US Canterbury Farming 03 347 2314
One Plan ruling finds
by Hugh de Lacy
Acknowledging farmers as the experts when it comes to land management has been the principal outcome of Federated Farmers’ appeal against the Manawatu-Wanganui Regional Council’s One Plan nitrogen loss limits, according to the federation’s national environment spokesman. Ashburton sheep and beef farmer Ian Mackenzie told Canterbury Farming that High Court Justice Stephen Kos’ decision late last month on the appeal brought jointly by the federation and by Horticulture NZ had made a previously unworkable plan workable. In 2010 ManawatuWanganui’s Horizons launched a plan that set arbitrary limits on nitrogen run-off into the central North Island’s badly polluted rivers. “What happened was Horizons consulted with the community and came to quite a reasonable position, and that was hi-jacked by [the] Fish and Game [Council of NZ], Doc [the Department of Conservation] and a Horizons staff member,” Mackenzie said. “They appealed the collaboratively-formed plan and the Environment Court judge basically took advice from everybody other than the agricultural sector.”
The result was “a totally unworkable plan” that might have allowed only trees to be grown on some land used for livestock farming. Farmers and horticulturists appealed the revised plan to the High Court earlier in the year, resulting in Justice Kos last month largely reinstating the original plan. The Horizons staff member who assisted Fish and Game in the revision of the original plan has since moved on, and Mackenzie said the current council “is working constructively with [the Ministry of] Primary Industries to turn what they’ve got into a successful way of addressing farming’s contribution to the environmental footprint.” The president of the Manawatu-Rangitikei branch of Federated Farmers, Andrew Hoggard, said in welcoming Justice Kos’ decision that it vindicated the appeal which was never about overturning One
Plan because parts of it were already operative. “Justice Kos’ interpretation is that One Plan allows exceptions from the fixed nitrogen loss limits. “This is very positive for our farmers and gives them assurance that they will be able to continue farming because unachievable N loss limits will not now be applied to their farms,” Hoggard said. “What Federated Farmers wanted, and was effectively in the 2010 decisions version, was a focus on good management practices to minimise N loss, faecal contamination and sediment. “Justice Kos has given us a clear pathway for making One Plan workable,” he said. It’s been a tortuous legal road to reach this position. After the original One Plan was published, no fewer than three interim decisions were released by the Environment
Court — in September and December of last year, and in March this year. Horticulture NZ and the federation’s joint appeal was heard in July, at which new information was introduced on water policy scenarios that had been prepared by Landcare Research for Primary Industries under the direction of the Land and Water Forum. This included economic analyses of the costs and benefits of the various options. A statement from Federated Farmers’ national office said the key priority now was to work closely with Horizons to ensure the roll-out of One Plan continues.
“The green NGOs should be heavily involved in the monitoring to make sure we deliver to our aspirations, but [should have] a little less involvement in what that means on farms. “The lesson for Canterbury is if you really want to be particularly stupid about farmer development plans, try talking to Fish and Game. “If you want a plan that farmers will engage in and might be workable, you need to talk to those people who indicated they’d implement the plan — and that is the farmers.
The Priority Water Management Zones in the plan would not all be implemented at the same time, but rolled out a few catchments at a time with the first due to come into the
“We’re not pushing back on improving water quality outcomes — we’re just saying we’re the experts when it comes to land management,” Mackenzie said.
DESIGN & CONSTRUCTION You may not want to hang a tractor from your shed, but it would be nice to know you can! • • • •
Canterbury’s Ian Mackenzie said Justice Kos’ rulings meant that regional councils need to take more notice of what farmers are saying “and a little less of the green NGOs [nongovernment organisations].
It pointed out that the obligation still remained for intensive farms to obtain consents to farm, and that these would be negotiated on a caseby-case basis.
StructureWise TM
rule stream regulating N loss in July next year.
Commercial, rural or storage buildings From design to completion or supplied (Kitset) Steel, timber or concrete materials Sustainable materials, made in NZ
Station Street, Leeston / www.structurewise.co.nz / Ph 03 324 3392