Veggie grower exemption 'not easy'

He told the recent HortNZ conference in Hamilton that not everyone supported exempting vegetable growers in Horowhenua and Pukekohe.

"It was important to me that we do that," Parker said. "It took some compromise from people who sat on the other side of the transaction, but that's our job as politicians to make the sort of decisions that we did."

Parker says he personally pushed for exemptions to those nutrient rules once there was an understanding about how hard they were to achieve. He added that fresh vegetable producers play an extremely important role in the health of New Zealanders.

"We expect the next generation of plans to give due recognition to the benefits and importance of horticulture, but that doesn't mean to say everything today will stay as it is."

Parker claims that by exempting these two regions, the Government "displayed our understanding of the importance of vegetable growers".

It found that in Horowhenua, even with a 40% reduction in dairy and horticulture farming, nutrient bottom lines wouldn't be met.

A report published in 2019 found that over 19 months, 37 tonnes of sediment per hectare was being lost from sloping land used for vegetable production in Pukekohe.

Parker says this is unsustainable for both growers and the environment.

He says a six-year study report released this year found that nitrogen leaching rates were up as high as 193kg N/ha in Pukekohe. He says a great deal of work needs to still be done at Pukekohe and Horowhenua, but that it's "fantastic to see the sector standing up".

On farm environment plans, Parker says the Government is happy to expand HortNZ's New Zealand Good Agricultural Practice (NZGAP) to cover farm plans.

"The NZGAP programme was developed as a food safety tool. It's a very good system and we are working with that as a basis for farm plans for the hort sector.

"It may require some modifications, but we see that as a vehicle to deliver farm plans with much change to your processes."