Plenty to attend to off the farm

01-03-2010 | Contributor

Like many parts of the North Island we have plenty of grass and could use more mouths on it.

One thing I have learned is that when the Hawke's Bay has a heated grass market as now, it is usually a time for patience and waiting for a good opportunity to buy more store stock. Even with all the severe droughts they have had over that side of the range, those farmers seem to have deep pockets and can outgun me on price.

Not that I have had much time for on-farm activities because of Horizons Regional Council's excessive "big stick" regulatory approach - the dreaded "One Plan".

Horizons said they would use a non-regulatory approach to address diffuse pollution concerns, only to ambush farmers with their "consent to farm" three weeks before they signed it off.

Federated Farmers finally had a chance to voice disapproval to someone prepared to listen to our concerns 2.8 years later, having just finished presenting to the independent hearing panel at Horizons. We had a great turnout of farmers and tremendous support from our members in preparing our case, along with huge input and dedication from our policy staff.

With the best-yet response to a Feds petition that we sent out in the region just after Christmas, Horizons should be in no doubt there is almost no rural support for the One Plan. We hope this will be listened to.

Horizons has some great staff that work constructively with farmers, like most of their land-management officers.

Some of their good staff even acknowledge that head office can make their job difficult, giving an example of a good working relationship built up over time with the farmer in partnership with Horizons on environmental protection work, only to have this farmer receiving the dreaded non-compliance prosecution letter from one of the Horizons bureaucrats.

Combine this with promised funding increases for farmers carrying out environmental work of benefit to the community, which then turn out to be funding cuts; it is easy to see why any farmer trust and respect of Horizons is fast disappearing. Significant change is needed to this organisation.

While I respect the need to have clear practical rules on environmental issues when it is clearly demonstrated and proven that a rule is needed, this is severely lacking in the proposed One Plan. You then need to be clear, fair and consistent in applying rules.

If rules are never applied or enforced for years it is easy for people to either not know about them or treat them as non-existent, especially where a rule covers activity they have carried out as normal farm routine for decades. To then suddenly enforce a rule with gusto is to invite a backlash, as is happening.

To make progress we need positive change for farmers so they can partner with other willing organisations on these environmental issues.

The next major activity taking my attention away from the farm is more preparation for Feds farmday, a proactive approach to encourage our urban cousins to come out into the country on to a working farm and experience farming and making a sustainable living from the land. In the meantime I need to get the last of the round haybales into the shed if there is room before they get any more showers of rain on them, and keep monitoring for animal health challenges ahead.

Gordon McKellar, Feilding, Manawatu.

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