Farmers need to better manage nutrient runoff

They're using helicopters to spot dairy farm polluters in the Waikato region, but it hasn't come to that yet in Taranaki.

Environment Waikato (the regional council) has moved up a gear, from regulating the effects of farm runoff, to controlling land use.

Taranaki doesn't have any major lakes or rivers where the effects of nutrient runoff interfere with the ecology and public use.

Taranaki has hundreds of small streams and is leading the way with riparian planting and management, under the Clean Streams Accord with other stakeholders.

"In the Waikato it's all about land use, triggered by runoff into major lakes and rivers," says Fred McLay, the Taranaki Regional Council's director of resource management. "We haven't got to that here yet, because we don't have the environmental effects, although some nutrient levels are changing, and nitrogen in streams is going up. The key tool is riparian management which doesn't control land use but it mitigates the effects of land use.

"We've been promoting that and we lead the way in New Zealand. It's a big programme and we haven't been dealing with the source, but the effects."

He says farmers are slow in implementing the accord and one of the key issues when the Regional Freshwater Plan is reviewed next year, will be: "Which track do we go down?

"At the moment it's a voluntary tool and that will be the time when we consider whether we have to go to a more regulatory approach and the community will have its say about that.

"It may be the voluntary approach continues, I can't predict it. We will listen to the community, weigh up all the issues and options and plot a course forward."

The Waiokura Stream catchment is the major tool for monitoring the effects of runoff, but it's not so representative of Taranaki streams.

"It's probably the worst one because it's not a mountain catchment, it drains the mid and lower plain and it's a very high dairy farming density, 44 farms," Mr McLay says. "It's shown measurable results from the action that farmers have taken on the riparian margins and in managing their effluent and runoff."

He says Taranaki's neighbours, Environment Waikato and Horizons (Manawatu-Rangitikei), have land use rules in their plans or are in the process of establishing such rules, associated with farming. These rules apply to parts of their regions and cover some river and lake catchments.

Southland Regional Council has rules covering stock access to rivers and lakes, particularly for intensive winter grazing.

The TRC's Regional Fresh Water Plan (2001) includes most of the rules that apply to farming in the region.

The TRC currently has rules that apply to fertiliser application (this is a permitted activity, no consent needed if certain standards are met) but does not have rules that apply to livestock.

The diffuse source runoff issue has been addressed with a non-regulatory (voluntary) approach. The riparian management programme was established in 1996 and involves council land management officers working with farmers to develop free riparian plans that are then implemented by the farmers over time. The programme was included in the Dairy and Clean Streams Accord.

"The Taranaki dairy farming community is making progress towards achieving the targets set out in the Regional Action Plan for Taranaki; however an issue that continues to exist is the relatively slow pace of riparian plan implementation in respect of fencing and planting. The 2010 target has been met substantially due to existing pre-accord fencing and planting.

"If plan implementation continues at its current rate the implementation target for 2015 will not be met. The TRC has continued to make adjustments to its approach to promote wider and faster implementation. However, if the implementation targets are to be met a few years out, accord partners and ultimately dairy farmers need to apply more effort to physical works."

Meanwhile, Ballance Agri-Nutrients' top scientist Warwick Catto warns that farmers need to lift their game in demonstrating self-management of nutrient losses from their farms, or more regulation could follow.

He was responding to a suggestion that the latest Environment Waikato draft regional policy statement would seek to add the Waikato River catchment to its area of restricted activities.

The EW response for Lake Taupo introduced a limit on nitrogen losses from farm systems based on the way the land was used between 2001 and 2005 and a requirement for a controlled activity resource consent to farm from next year onwards.

However, farmers wishing to exceed that limit may purchase nitrogen credits from another Lake Taupo landowner. EW was aware that about 90 per cent of the manageable load of nitrogen entering the lake was from farming, largely as a result of intensification.

"Horizons is proposing that intensive farming activities will require a controlled activity resource consent to farm in certain priority catchments. This means farmers will have to manage the application of fertiliser within strict conditions of their consents which aim to limit the amount of nitrogen that is lost from the farm system."

Mr Catto says Ballance advocates a self-management approach that could avoid the need for regulations. Farmers can use the fertiliser codes of use, nutrient management plans and other measures to demonstrate improvements.

"There is evidence that the challenges to each farmer's freedom to farm are growing, and as long as farmers continue to look the other way they will miss out on opportunities to show they can self-manage these issues without regulations," he says.

- © Fairfax NZ News