Farmers slate Horizons lack of horizon on water

Today, Federated Farmers will outline how it would transform Horizons Regional Council’s contentious One Plan water chapters from unworkable to workable.

“We want to make things work and that means securing water policies that farmers can genuinely buy into,” says Gordon McKellar, Federated Farmers Manawatu/Rangitikei provincial president.

“We’ve got a clear mandate from our members that they want a proactive partnership encompassing the rural sector, our urban communities, local councils and of course, Horizons Regional Council itself.

“Issues such as the allocation and quality of water and how the beds of rivers are managed are of extreme relevance for farming. There’s a feeling the One Plan has been dairy specific but the reality is that all farmers are in this together.

“Horizons approach is to regulate first and ask questions later, which gets in the way of constructive dialogue and solutions. Federated Farmers would like to see Horizons treat regulation as being the last resort and not the first for nitrogen management.

“They should instead extend the positive non-regulatory approach for nutrients as they do for phosphate loss from farms. Not surprisingly, farmers are positive about these types of initiatives but rightfully feel picked on when it comes to nitrogen.

“Getting tangible results is what ought to count and what the One Plan ought to be all about.

“Evolving farm practice and non-regulatory moves by dairy farmers has seen the Ministry for the Environment report small but measurable improvements in both water quality and clarity of the Manawatu River for instance.

“The Manawatu is one example of what we are telling the Hearings Commissioners - that it’s unreasonable to expect farmers today can magic away decades of impact. But given realistic timeframes and decent policies we can make a start.

“That said, the activities of the region’s 220,000 human population impact water quality but that seems to be a truth that dare not speak its name, at least for 50-years. Horizons is giving industry and urban centres some 50-years to rectify major point sources of pollution into the region’s waterways.

“The water chapters we desire would reinforce the success we’ve already seen. Instead of this the Regional Council has got hung up on one nutrient - nitrogen.

“To ram a need for partnership home, we’re presenting case studies highlighting how community involvement and partnership can yield vast improvements in many aspects of water quality, not just nutrient discharges.

“These schemes need two things to bear fruit – time and goodwill.

“It’s why our region’s farmers need a Regional Council that encourages a free exchange of ideas and information. Sadly we’ve experienced the complete opposite with members being pinged for doing the right thing.

“Improving farm practice in a step-wise manner delivers the economic means to do more. Yet by making farming uneconomic, as the current water chapters threaten, is a really dumb solution that will have untold economic ramifications.

“Horizons and the region’s farmers are at a cross-road and the water chapters will determine the direction of that future – for better or for worse,” Mr McKellar concluded.