SLUI newsletter

October 2019

Welcome to our SLUI newsletter. As one of our 700 plus SLUI farmers you are receiving this so that you’re kept up to date with what is happening in the land management space. If you’re one of our Whanganui Catchment Strategy landowners, you’re receiving this email as – great news – you are now eligible for SLUI funding. We hope you find this newsletter useful and please remember our land team is always available and willing to help on freephone 0508 800 800 or via their direct contact details at the bottom of this edition. 

2018-19 SLUI statistics

Thank you for your contribution to erosion control works across our region over the last financial year – this infographic shows what work has been completed during that period. 

Changes to SLUI funding criteria and more money available

At a council meeting in June, changes to eligibility criteria for SLUI were made to provide more options for landowners to take advantage of available funding. We can now offer funding for one-off jobs on farms that do not have a SLUI whole farm plan, and have further funding available for properties with existing SLUI and Whanganui Catchment Strategy whole farm plans.

So what does that mean for you? Well first of all if you’re a Whanganui Catchment Strategy landowner, you can now receive SLUI funding. And if you’re one of our existing SLUI farmers we have more funding to offer you for erosion control work – in fact we’ve secured $6.4 million for the next four years from the Ministry for Primary Industries’ hill country erosion fund.

Also if you know anyone who is interested in trying SLUI, now is the time to encourage them to get involved. We can now provide funding to one-off priority jobs without going through the Whole Farm Plan process, giving them the opportunity to try SLUI on a smaller scale.

The programme is seeking to deliver 90,000 hectares of new whole farm plans and 13,665 hectares of erosion control work over the next four years. We strongly encourage you, your neighbours and anyone else who has erosion prone land, takes advantage of what SLUI has to offer and gets in touch with our land management advisors. However, don’t delay as we are already seeing an increased interest from farmers for work and funding this year.

Government announcements

As you are likely aware, central government are currently seeking feedback on their Action for Healthy Waterways proposals. Councils across the country are working through their networks to understand possible consequences and implementation of the proposals. The regional council sector will also be making a submission on the proposals.

We know landowners in our region are dedicated to land management – the infographic at the beginning of this newsletter highlights all the great work underway. So with central government looking at new policies around land use and freshwater management, it is worth taking advantage of assistance that’s available. With SLUI funding being able to contribute towards these activities such as fencing, planting and erosion control, it’s a great mechanism to help landowners move towards evolving regulation.

If you would like to provide feedback on the proposals, you need to do so by 5pm Thursday 31 October here. 

Further assistance available to you 

Through the SLUI programme we have developed a number of case studies and support documents to help you make decisions around land management issues. Most of these are available on our website and feel free to discuss any of these with our land management advisors.

Differences between SLUI and 1 Billion Trees (1BT)
The government has introduced the 1 Billion Trees (1BT) programme to support increased tree planting across New Zealand. There are some differences between 1BT and SLUI funding, for example 1BT can be more generous for Mānuka and natives, however some find the 6-year lock out of carbon with pines not so attractive. To see the breakdown of the key differences and to work out what may best suit you click here.   

Forestry appraisals
Forestry can be an effective tool to address erosion prone land and we encourage it to be considered as part of wider farming operations. If you are thinking about forestry, and regardless of the size, there’s the opportunity to get advice from us or an independent source at no cost. Over the 2018-19 year 22 landowners signed up for these assessments in the region so get in touch if you’re interested.  

Land management items of interest

Continuous canopy forestry 
With increasing dialogue about land use and alternatives to traditional pine forestry, you might find the work going into high value timber and minimal footprint harvesting an interesting read. Click here to read more. 

Poplars and the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) 
Many farmers have shown interest in entering their space planted poplars into the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). There are potential benefits and risks with this and we have worked with experienced consultants to provide you with some information on this subject.

Agricultural Communities Respecting the Environment (ACRE) field day
Earlier this year SLUI farmer Justin Vennell hosted an ACRE field day on his farm to provide other farmers with the opportunity to hear about how SLUI has been implemented on his farm. To read more about the day click here.

Get in touch

We’ve had a couple of staff changes recently so you can find an updated list of contacts below.  You, or anyone you know who is interested, can also email us at slui@horizons.govt.nz or call our land manager Grant Cooper directly on 06 9522 822 to discuss SLUI in general – including signing up.