Otago farmers urged to apply for winter grazing consents

ORC manager consents Joanna Gilroy says farmer engagement since new regulations came into effect in November 2022 had been “really good so far”, but to ensure consents are in place by 1 May, farmers need to begin the application process now.

To date the process has been taking ORC’s consents team five working days to get completed.

“A lot of farmers are being both pro-active and innovative and are already working on having their consents applied for and their grazing management plans in place,” Gilroy says.

She says ORC’s catchment advisors and consents and compliance teams are happy to do site visits and have sessions with catchment groups, something she says has been “very successful” to date.

“We’ve done more than 20 sessions with catchment and farmer groups and one-on-one visits, from September to December last year,” Gilroy says.

“The Council is here to help and has plenty of resources and people in place to support the farmers and their applications.”

She says the application for consent should cover multiple years, with any consents then granted for a specific duration.

“In most instances we’re encouraging farmers to apply for consent for the next three to five years,” she says.

Farmers will then need to update their management plan annually, telling ORC where they have grazed in the previous year, and where they plan to graze during the next season. They only need to apply for the consent once.

While farmers need to apply for the paddocks they’re likely to graze over the next few years, actual paddock selection and the day to day farm operation is still in the farmer’s hands.

“The process we’ve developed provides for farmers to change their plan in response to the many factors which can influence day to day management,” Gilroy says.