Dairy farmers make positive moves, but wetlands still an issue

Failure to protect wetlands from the effects of dairying is a black smudge among more positive outcomes contained in the three-year report on the Sustainable Dairy Water Accord. By: STAFF REPORTERS
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Progress on the Accord was revealed at Te Papa Museum on Monday. The aim had been to exclude all stock from registered regionally significant wetlands by 2014, and it noted that, five years later, this had not been achieved.
DairyNZ chief executive Tim Mackle said a lack of clarity from regional councils on the definition and regulation of wetlands had impeded progress – an explanation branded «a poor excuse» by Forest & Bird advocacy manager Kevin Hackwell.
«Here we are in 2017, and we are nowhere near achieving that goal,» Hackwell said.
«Wetlands are really important places for biodiversity, but also for nutrients.»
Among more positive outcomes, the report stated national levels of significant non-compliance for dairy effluent systems had dropped to their lowest levels yet, down from 7 per cent in 2013-14 to just above 5 per cent during the 2015-16 period.
More than 97 per cent of the country’s dairy cattle were recorded as being fenced off from waterways on farms, which required 26,197 kilometres of fencing.
Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy applauded farmers’ efforts, but pointed out new swimmable rivers legislation would require a further 56,000km of fencing.
Guy went to pains to emphasise that freshwater issues were not purely down to dairy farming.
«It’s not just about agriculture, it’s about urbanisation, it’s about industrial growth as well. We are all in this together, and in my view it is pointless playing the blame game.»
The report covered the first three years of the accord, from its launch in 2013 to May last year, and was independently audited by Telarc.
Mackle said it was heartening to see what farmers had achieved in the past three years. «I acknowledge that there is still some work to do, but dairy farmers are making a positive difference.»
The amount of farmers using nitrogen information to help them farm more responsibly had also lifted from 56 per cent in 2013-14 to 83 per cent. Last year there were 9517 nutrient budgets processed.
The nitrogen management programme collects data to show nitrogen losses on farms, enabling farmers to make improvements to their farm systems to reduce nitrogen loss and improve the efficiency of its use.
More than 99 per cent of 44,386 regular stock crossing points on dairy farms now have bridges or culverts to protect local water quality.
Federated Farmers dairy industry chairman Andrew Hoggard said the accord showed how seriously dairy farmers took their environmental responsibilities.
«None of us are claiming we’re perfect, or that there is no problem with dairy’s impact on waterways. But the latest report shows the strenuous and ongoing efforts the vast majority of dairy farmers are making to lessen their environmental footprint.»
Hoggard said he was especially pleased with the fall in non-compliance for dairy effluent systems.
«When I first started in Feds only a decade and a bit ago, the non-compliance rate was pushing upwards of 20 per cent in my region. Getting below 1 per cent is an outstanding effort – and a considerable investment – from farmers to modernise their systems, to make them weatherproof for all kinds of conditions, and often to make them human mistake proof.»
The lift in farmers subscribing to nitrogen information systems to help them farm more responsibly showed that the «vast majority» of farmers were doing their bit on their farms to improve things.
«We still have a few who need to do more,» Hoggard said.
«The individual farmer can control what happens on his or her property, they can’t control the entire catchment.»
Source: Stuff
Link: http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/dairy/92603982/dairy-farmers-make-positive-moves-but-wetlands-still-an-issue

Mirá También

Así lo expresó Domingo Possetto, secretario de la seccional Rafaela, quien además, afirmó que a los productores «habitualmente los ignoran los gobiernos». Además, reconoció la labor de los empresarios de las firmas locales y aseguró que están «esperanzados» con la negociación entre SanCor y Adecoagro.

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