Nutrient management decision to have major economic impact: (Southland)

The Southland Times, 3 February

A Southland farmer has warned the regional economy will be hit hard when Environment Southland sets regional nutrient allocations next year.

Sheep and dairy farmer Doug Fraser said no matter which methodology was used, farmers and the wider community would feel the effects.

He believed if the regional council capped discharge levels based on their current allocations it would be disastrous for sheep farmers, who had much lower nutrient losses than dairy farmers.

“Sheep farmers would be unable to intensify land use.

“The value of sheep farms would take a massive hit and the opportunity to convert sheep properties to dairy, which have much higher nutrient losses, will be stolen.

“The economic consequences for farmers, and consequently, the wider community would be dire.”

The council is considering options ranging from grandparenting – allocation based on current or recent discharge levels – to equal allocation irrespective of the type of land use.

Grandparenting favoured higher dischargers and would allow dairy farmers to continue with their current level of inputs and production, he said.

Environment Southland deputy chair Nicol Horrell told a public meeting in Invercargill last Tuesday no options had been ruled out, but allocations based on current nutrient losses were unlikely.

The council will explore each available option from January to July next year before making its decision.

“It’s unlikely we’ll go down the grandparenting path,” he said.

Fraser, who operates a dairy farm at Gropers Bush and a sheep farm at Round Hill, said the alternative to grandparenting was equal allocation irrespective of land use.

While this was a more equitable approach, it favoured lower dischargers like sheep farmers and failed to protect the region’s massive investment in dairying, he said.

“It would mean dairy farmers would have to reduce their stocking rates.

“I’d have to go from three stock units per hectare down to two.

“That makes my farm uneconomic, and this is a smaller than average dairy farm.”

The process is part of the council’s Water and Land 2020 & Beyond initiative, which will culminate in new catchment limits being set for the region’s waterways.

Environment Southland chief excecutive Rob Phillips said the council had not yet considered which nutrient allocation methods might work for Southland.

The council had commissioned comprehensive science and economic programmes to understand the impacts of various policy approaches, while community and tangata whenua values work programmes would begin shortly, he said.

“These programmes will ensure the community has the best information available to inform the discussions prior to the catchment limit-setting process.”

Land use intensification policies would also be reviewed in the Water and Land Plan to ensure water quality is maintained prior to limit-setting, he said.

DairyNZ regional policy manager James Ryan said the industry body was reluctant to look ahead to the nutrient management phase of the initiative.

Its focus was on the initial part of the plan – encouraging farmers to adopt good management practices – and discussion about nutrient management was premature, he said.

“We think all the potential options should be explored before we start advocating for one approach over another.

“In the first instance, we will support any farmer that adopts good management practices and that’s where our focus is at the moment.”

– The Southland Times