increase font size
Andrew Hoggard Federated Farmers.
A dairy farmer ‘dragging the chain’ on effluent management has let the team down, says Federated Farmers Dairy chairman Andrew Hoggard, commenting on a recidivist polluter who has copped a record fine for environment non-compliance in Taranaki.
Rahotu dairy farmer Francis John Mullan, 64, was fined $66,000 in the Environment Court for two charges of discharging effluent into groundwater and a stream on one of his eight farms.
Mullen has two previous convictions for similar offences. The $66,000 Environment Court fine is the largest ever for a farmer in Taranaki.
Hoggard says most farmers are doing a great job protecting the environment; they are let down by a small group. “A few of them are dragging the chain and letting others down,” he told Rural News.
He points out cases of non-compliance in farm effluent management are dropping. In Hoggard’s home patch of Manawatu, monitored by Horizons Regional Council, non-compliance has dropped from 16% three years ago to 3% last season.
“We are moving in the right direction and farmers are making huge investments in effluent management,” he says.
Mullan pleaded not guilty to the two charges but a jury returned a guilty verdict after a two and a half day trial in December.
Judge Colin Thompson said Mullan viewed himself “too important to be part of the rules and responsibilities that apply to the rest of the farming world”.
Thompson said the cumulative effect of the pollution on the land and waterways was significant. He ordered 90% of the fine to go to the Taranaki Regional Council.
In March 2013 a TRC officer on a routine inspection of Mullan’s Upper Kina Rd farm found a broken pump causing effluent to overflow onto land. It flooded 80m2 and entered a drain to a tributary of the Oanui Stream.
The prosecutor described Mullan’s offending as wilful, blind and his attitude negligent in the extreme. Mullan had a history of non-compliance with four previous convictions under the Resource Management Act.
Mullan’s lawyer Patrick Mooney argued he was not wilfully blind because he repaired the broken pump as soon as he was aware of it.
He says responsibility for day-to-day workings of the farm lay with Mullan’s farm manager Jeremy Auld.
“It defeats the purpose of employing a manager if you go on the farm every day. There must come a point where you pass the level of responsibility onto the farm worker and that was passed to Mr Auld.”
However the judge said Mullan’s system of communication with his farm manager was “woefully insufficient”.
Mullan has a history of non compliance on all eight of his dairy farms. His offending dates back to 1999, including effluent flowing into a stream and ponding on pasture, and effluent ponds not managed properly.
According to the latest Federated Farmers banking survey, farmers are more satisfied with their bank and less under pressure, however, the sector is well short of confidence levels seen last decade.
OPINION: Federated Farmers has launched a new campaign, swapping ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’ for ‘The Twelve Pests of Christmas’ to highlight the most troublesome farm pests – a serious issue that needs some urgent attention from the Beehive.
There was much theatre in the Beehive before the Government's new Resource Management Act (RMA) reform bills were introduced into Parliament last week.
Farmers are welcoming the announcement of two new bills to replace the under-fire Resource Management Act.
The Government has announced it will immediately roll over all resource consents for two years, with legislation expected to pass under urgency as early as this week.
The Push-Up Challenge, an event which combines mental health and fitness, is set to launch in New Zealand in 2026.
Last month's Agritechnica event led to a wide group of manufacturers celebrating successes when the 2026 Tractor of the Year Competition winners, selected by a panel of European journalists, were announced in Hanover Germany.
According to the latest Federated Farmers banking survey, farmers are more satisfied with their bank and less under pressure, however, the sector is well short of confidence levels seen last decade.
Farmer confidence has taken a slight dip according to the final Rabobank rural confidence survey for the year.
Former Agriculture Minister and Otaki farmer Nathan Guy has been appointed New Zealand’s Special Agricultural Trade Envoy (SATE).
Alliance Group has commissioned a new heat pump system at its Mataura processing plant in Southland.
