Wednesday, 09 August 2023 15:45

$10,000 plan

Written by  Milking It

OPINION: Farmer lobby Groundswell is mobilising farmers against the requirement to have freshwater farm plans.

Groundswell NZ predicts the Government's new Freshwater Farm Plans will cost $10,000 to implement on each farm, and says they are "just another unworkable regulation bought in by this Government".

It has started holding farmer meetings. The lobby wants freshwater farm plans to be addressed by catchment groups rather than individual farmers.

A new requirement for farms over a certain size to have a freshwater farm plan has come into effect from August 1 in parts of the Waikato and Southland, with other regions to follow over the next two years.

In the Waikato region, the requirement is being phased in by catchment, starting with the Waipā to align as best as possible with the pending implementation of Proposed Plan Change 1.

Once the regulations are activated in their catchment, farm operators will have 18 months to development and submit their first freshwater farm plan for certification.

More like this

New methane targets here to stay?

A drop in methane targets announced by the Government this month has pleased farmers but there are concerns that without cross-party support, the targets would change once a Labour-led Government is voted into office.

Costs too high?

OPINION: This old mutt is loath to sound like Groundswell has been topping up his bowl with brisket off-cuts, but the ginger group makes a good point about the arguments raised in favour of toeing the Paris Agreement line.

Featured

Editorial: Preparing for drought

OPINION: Farmers along the east coast of both islands are being urged to start planning for drought as recent nor'west winds have left soil moisture levels depleted.

National

Machinery & Products

New pick-up for Reiter R10 merger

Building on experience gained during 10 years of making mergers/ windrowers, Austrian company Reiter has announced the secondgeneration pick-up on…

» Latest Print Issues Online

Milking It

Remembering Bolger

OPINION: Is it now time for the country's top agricultural university to start thinking about a name change - something…

Time for action

OPINION: If David Seymour's much-trumpeted Ministry for Regulation wants a serious job they need look no further than reviewing the…

» Connect with Dairy News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter