Tuesday, 18 November 2014 00:00

Feds, Landcorp plan water talks

Written by 
Landcorp chief executive Steven Carden. Landcorp chief executive Steven Carden.

LANDCORP AND Federated Farmers plan to talk in the next few weeks about issues including water allocation in the upper Waikato catchment.

 Feds provincial president for Rotorua/Taupo, Allan Wills, says as many as 60 dairy farmers in the catchment fear they will be denied enough water to wash down their dairy sheds. 

Wills claims this is because Wairakei Pastoral, the owner of large landholdings now being converting to dairying, has gained consents for most of the available water in the catchment. Landcorp manages the farms for Wairakei Pastoral.

Wills acknowledges Wairakei Pastoral acquired the water consents by legal and legitimate means, but questions the ethics of its move. 

Farmers had the same opportunity as Wairakei Pastoral to apply for the water consents, but these were awarded by the regional council on a first-come, first-served basis and local farmers missed out.

Says Wills, “The Wairakei Pastoral Landcorp partnership needs to be part of the solution. Every farmer has to have consent to use water for cleaning stock sheds. Stock water and domestic water is guaranteed, but the problem is with the water used for irrigation and shed wash-down.”

Landcorp chief executive Steven Carden says while he knows Federated Farmers’ concerns about water allocation, it’s the regional council that allocates the water. Wairakei Pastoral, as the owners of the land in question, applied for the water consents in 2011 and gained these in 2012. The water is essentially for stock and for shed wash-down, with some provision for irrigation. Only about 14% of the Wairakei estate is irrigated, Carden says.

“Landcorp and Wairakei Pastoral will have to sit around the table and work out the options. It’s certainly not Landcorp’s aim to see people disadvantaged.” 

Carden says the meeting with Federated Farmers, in early December, will be part of a wider dialogue Landcorp is having with its stakeholders. Landcorp wants to be open about what it is doing and give others an opportunity to engage with the company and see what can happen as a result of that dialogue.

More like this

Editorial: Sensible move

OPINION: The Government's decision to rule out changes to Fringe Benefit Tax (FBT) that would cost every farmer thousands of dollars annually, is sensible.

Dairy unity

OPINION: A last-minute compromise ensured that the election of the new Federated Farmers national dairy chair wasn't a repeat of the Super 15 rugby final - Canterbury versus Waikato.

Featured

Big return on a small investment

Managing director of Woolover Ltd, David Brown, has put a lot of effort into verifying what seems intuitive, that keeping newborn stock's core temperature stable pays dividends by helping them realise their full genetic potential.

Editorial: Sensible move

OPINION: The Government's decision to rule out changes to Fringe Benefit Tax (FBT) that would cost every farmer thousands of dollars annually, is sensible.

National

Machinery & Products

» Latest Print Issues Online

The Hound

Overbearing?

OPINION: Dust ups between rural media and PR types aren't unheard of but also aren't common, given part of the…

Foot-in-mouth

OPINION: The Hound hears from his canine pals in Southland that an individual's derogatory remarks on social media have left…

» Connect with Rural News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter