Corporate narrative?
OPINION: Forget about the fabled 'rural-urban' divide, the real fault-line in farming might actually be the divide between grass-roots farmers and the industry corporates who claim to be 'speaking on behalf of farmers'.
Southland Farmers will be breathing a sigh of relief that central Government is stepping in to stop Environment Southland from introducing unworkable and expensive new farming rules.
"This is a pragmatic, commonsense decision that will be well received by local farmers," says Federated Farmers Southland president Jason Herrick.
"We’ve been asking Environment Southland to put the brakes on new freshwater rules for some time."
The council had agreed it would wait for the Government’s new National Policy Statement - Freshwater Management (NPS-FM) before notifying Plan Change Tuatahi but would push on to introduce other changes next year.
This week, the Government announced they will be amending the Resource Management Act (RMA) to give councils and communities more certainty when it comes to freshwater.
This change will restrict councils’ ability to notify new freshwater rules until the new NPS-FM is in place.
Herrick says it never made any sense for the council to be trying to introduce new water quality rules when they knew the Government was changing the national direction.
"That’s a waste of council resources, and ratepayers’ money."
Herrick says changes to NPS-FM signalled by the Government made it very clear to regional councils that they need to down tools and wait for further clarification on the national direction.
"This clarity will prevent needless duplication of effort, the wasting of council staff time, and possible confusion for farmers with constantly changing rules."
With the RMA amendment, council won’t be able to bring in freshwater aspects of any plan change until 31 December 2025 - unless the Government settles its new freshwater policy earlier.
Herrick says reality is that there has been already massive change to land use and management practices to better mitigate environmental effects in Southland.
"That won't stop because of this pause, and in fact it may give some breathing space to allow focus on practical, on-the-ground efforts that will make a difference for the environment, rather than getting bogged down in costly bureaucratic planning processes."
Herrick says farmers need rules that are fair and practical, but also an element of certainty so that they can make business decisions and get on with farming.
"Council should do it once and do it right, guided by national direction.
"We don’t need constant flip-flopping or shifting of the goal posts that undermines farmers’ confidence to invest in their businesses."
"What taking a little more time is likely to mean in practice is that we end up with much clearer and more consistent water quality rules that everyone in our community can support.
"From my perspective, that can only be a good thing."
Over 85% of Fonterra farmer suppliers will be eligible for customer funding up to $1,500 for solutions designed to drive on-farm efficiency gains and reduce emissions intensity.
Tighter beef and lamb production globally have worked to the advantage of NZ, according to the Meat Industry Association (MIA).
Groundswell is ramping up its 'Quit Paris' campaign with signs going up all over the country.
Some farmers in the Nelson region are facing up to five years of hard work to repair their damaged properties caused by the recent devastating floods.
Federated Farmers is joining major industry-good bodies in not advocating for the Government to withdraw from the Paris Agreement.
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.
OPINION: Labour leader Chris 'Chippy' Hipkins is carrying on the world-class gaslighting of the nation that he and his cohorts…
OPINION: The huge success of former Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson's new TV show, Clarkson's Farm, and the boost it…