Opinion: Southland Farmers doing great work

Southland farmers should be applauded for the great work they’re doing around environmental management.

Too often the focus goes on the negative and farmers are given a bad rap, but I think they should be commended for the way that they have improved farming practices to meet new environmental rules.

According to Environment Southland continued improvement in winter grazing practices was a feature during the 2021-22 season.

In fact, of the 895 on-site and aerial dairy effluent discharge consent inspections across the region this year – a massive 97.5 percent of farms were either fully compliant or graded low risk, with only 2.5 percent presenting significant non-compliance.

This is an incredible result, reflecting just how seriously farmers are taking their environmental responsibilities.

Farmers have undertaken careful planning and hard work around stock management to achieve these results, while industry and catchment groups have also played an important role.

It’s positive to see the sector working together to achieve these improved environmental outcomes, particularly around high-intensity farming practices.

This shows that given time and appropriate support and information, farmers are ready to farm in a sustainable and environmentally sound way.

Moving forward, more change is on the way next year, with the Government’s Freshwater rules around intensive winter grazing.

Delays, and a lack of clarity from the Government around these new regulations, has left local farmers feeling frustrated and angry.

The Government needs to do better at working with farmers, rather than against them to achieve positive results.

Published by arrangement.