Clean Streams Accord report prompts F&G flak

F&G chief executive Bryce Johnson highlights the difference between Fonterra’s survey of farmers, as reported in the Accord report, stating 84% of properties have stock excluded from waterways, with a MAF Stock Exclusion Survey Report, also released today.

“The reality is only half that number of farms nationally have complete stock exclusion – that’s clearly what MAF’s independent audit reveals,” says Johnson.

“Given the extent to which the Accord achievements have been talked up in the past, this latest revelation raises questions about the accuracy of all the other performance targets reported to the New Zealand public, politicians and the government’s Land and Water Forum.”

MAF says the Accord report is a snapshot showing a mixed bag of progress towards improved fresh water quality.

Like last year, two out of five of the Accord's targets were met, while some progress was made towards remaining targets.

Full compliance with regional council dairy effluent rules and consent conditions increased from 65% in 2009/10 to 69% in 2010/11.

Significant non compliance also improved, down from 16% to 11%, but MAF says this remains a concern and a major focus of collaborative efforts.

A target of 90% of regular stock crossing points for dairy cattle to have bridges and culverts by 2012 is exceeded with 99% achieved.

Councils that have identified and monitored fencing of their "Regionally Significant Wetlands" remains at 2009/10 levels, though the three which haven’t are in the process of doing so.

Nutrient budgets are in place on 99% of farms and 46% have taken this a step further with nutrient management plans.

The Stock Exclusion Survey Report, an independent assessment of stock exclusion from Accord-type waterways, shows dairy cattle excluded on 84% of farms, with 78% of waterway length protected but only 42% of farms achieving 100% stock exclusion.

Johnson says MAF, or some independent body, should have been auditing such Accord targets far sooner.

“Why has it taken eight years for MAF, which is party to the Accord, to check the accuracy of Fonterra’s reporting?”

Accord data is taken from Fonterra’s annual survey in which dairy farmers are asked questions to appraise their own environmental performance, he points out.

“Fish & Game has constantly highlighted the problem of the dairy industry self-reporting and we’ve repeatedly questioned the ‘success’ of the Accord when the science clearly tells us water quality in most regions is still declining.

“The audit findings justify our concerns and the urgent need to require the industry to lift its environmental performance, rather than literally pay lip service to it.

“This also confirms the need for review of the Accord – Fish & Game has previously requested that we participate in this process. The review needs to incentivise the positive actions by the good farmers and impose behaviour-changing financial sanctions on those not meeting the requirements after nearly 10 years.

“A new agreement needs to address water quality by ensuring runoff from farming does not enter waterways. It also needs to address run-off properties and smaller streams where water quality is poor.”

The Accord expires in 2012. MAF says the dairy industry is now consulting with all stakeholders to get views about what form a successor to the Accord could take and what value it would have.

Johnson is also critical of Fonterra’s announcement last week that it would require suppliers to exclude all stock from waterways by 2013, describing it as an inadequate “knee-jerk response” to blunt the fall-out from today’s report releases.

“They’ve completely neglected any reference to the all-important riparian buffer zones needed to soak up dairy runoff pollution.”

He also says streams smaller than the Accord’s ‘wider than a stride and deeper than a Redband’ definition should be included.

“This ignores feeder streams which provide important breeding and nursery habitat for fisheries and wildlife and, if left unprotected, still contribute to the dairy pollution entering the main water body.

“Fonterra, which is part of the Land and Water Forum (LAWF), knows such provisions are completely inadequate in addressing water quality.”

LAWF recommendation 12 identifies the need for riparian buffer zone fencing. “So why has Fonterra formalised a major barrier to its implementation?” adds Johnson.

“Are they going to tell their suppliers tomorrow to shift the fences they made them put in today in order to allow for riparian buffer zones they acknowledged through LAWF?”

Fonterra’s response to the report acknowledges there is more work to be done, with general manager milk supply Steve Murphy also saying the results were mixed.

“Overall, it highlights that a lot of progress has been made by farmers but, ultimately, we recognise that there is still more that needs to be done.

“It’s pleasing to see the improved effluent compliance results which we believe have been helped by our Every Farm Every Year programme.”

Every Farm Every Year had also been well received by regional councils as part of a combined effort to reduce non-compliance rates.

“What we’ve learnt in the first year is that farmers respond well to support, so we expect to make further progress in areas like Northland and Southland where the compliance results are not satisfactory.”

Murphy maintains the MAF survey on stock exclusions from waterways identifies steady progress, as well as the need for more work to be done.

“Stock exclusion makes an important contribution to the health of waterways. Like Every Farm Every Year, we are also taking the lead here, requiring our suppliers to have remaining waterways fenced off by the end of 2013 at the latest. This will be a condition of supply.”