“Overseer is a great tool for giving farmers an indication of nutrient use and loss, but it was never designed as a regulatory tool. For instance, it doesn’t take into account overland water flow following rain. Because of its variability, it allows farmers to game the system.”

Increased N use

The Waikato Regional Council’s plan is also having an impact in the Bay of Plenty, says Rick.

“Some high users of nitrogen in the Bay of Plenty are believed to be increasing their N use now, in anticipation of similar restrictions to those in the Waikato coming into force.”

By increasing their N inputs, they hope to avoid the impacts of any cutbacks in their permitted use under a grand-parenting model, says Rick.“You have to ask the question, is this a sustainable approach to improving water quality?”

“The grand-parenting model is sending totally the wrong message to farmers and doesn’t encourage a collaborative approach to solving fresh water quality issues; in fact it has driven sectors apart.”

F4PC also wants council to change the plan’s timeframes for farmer compliance from 10 to 30 years. “Ten years is too short a timeframe to give farmers any certainty going forward. However, there must be reviews and robust, and measurable targets to achieve across those 30 years.”

Rick believes drystock farmers have already carried out a considerable amount of environmental work but never formalised it into a Farm Environmental Plan, including retiring native bush blocks through the Queen Elizabeth IINationalTrust, andsome of this work has been carried out during decades.

“In the Waikato 47 per cent of QEII conservation areas are on sheep and beef farms and 11 per cent on dairy farms.”

Farm Environment Plans

Sheep and beef farmers in the Waikato and other regions are in the process of preparing Beef+Lamb NZ Farm Environment Plans to help them comply with council regulations. Rick says many of the requirements of the plans have already been met and the plans will formerly record them.

But Rick is concerned there could be long-term adverse impacts driven by the plan changes. These include the possibility that rural communities could struggle to maintain vibrancy and prosperity when the regional economy stalls due to the impact of de-intensified land use required to bring about water quality improvement – and this hasn’t been talked about enough.

F4PC wants council to act on a provision already in the plan, to use a sub-catchment model, involving farmers and rural communities in tackling water quality issues.

F4PC proposes farmers in the sub-catchments of the Waikato and Waipa rivers to work together to reduce their environmental footprints, focusing on the four contaminants nitrogen, phosphorus, sediment and E. Coli; and allowing the quality of streams that flow through and nearby their farms to improve.

This will, says Rick, be far more effective than what is currently proposed.

“It will enable all those in a sub-catchment, from farmers to lifestylers, to urban residents, to be involved in measuring and recording water quality in local rivers and waterways, targeting sources of potential pollution, and deciding, together, on how to correct those.

“The biggest challenge for the WRC will be reducing nitrogen leaching into the waterways. It’s already being proven in Canterbury that by using grand-parenting to drive regulation; it has failed to reduce nitrogen into the waterways.

“In fact, the situation has worsened with a nitrogen overload in some Canterbury’s rivers because the high leachers of nitrogen have been able to carry on in an unsustainable fashion.”