Our Freshwater Future

May 2021

Welcome to the third edition of Horizons Regional Council’s Oranga Wai Our Freshwater Future e-newsletter. There is a lot going on in the freshwater space, including updates to the timeframe for intensive winter grazing regulations, Plan Change 2 and progressing our work towards a revised One Plan for the region. Please forward this e-newsletter on to anyone you think would be interested and if you haven’t already, sign up here to receive future copies.

Have your say on Our Freshwater Future!

We are currently seeking your freshwater values, what’s important to you when it comes to freshwater? This is the first of five engagement stages with our communities and will help inform a freshwater One Plan change in 2024. It’s important you share your values and thoughts so we can get it right, you can do that here or you can email info@ourfreshwaterfuture.nz or freepost 217922, Private Bag 11025, Manawatū Mail Centre, Palmerston North 4414.

Intensive Winter Grazing – Deferment and Next Steps

As you may be aware, central government has deferred their introduction of the Intensive Winter Grazing (IWG) practice regulations until May 2022. This is in response to feedback from the Southland Advisory Group and regional councils on the difficulty of meeting and implementing the new requirements which are part of the National Environmental Standards for Freshwater (NES-F).

Government is considering the Southland Advisory Group proposal, which included requested changes to the slope rules and those relating to pugging and re-sowing dates. The delay will allow time to assess whether the permitted activity conditions need to be revised. If any changes are proposed these will be put out for public consultation by the Ministry for Primary Industries.

For more information on the changes and how they affect you please view our updated Intensive Winter Grazing brochure May 2021

Please note any new or expanded Intensive Winter Grazing activity in 2021 still requires a resource consent.

Any intensive winter grazing in 2021 will require a consent if it does not meet the following conditions:

· land on the farm must have been used for IWG during the period 1 July 2014 to 30 June 2019; and

· the area of the farm that is used for IWG must not exceed the maximum area that was used during the period 1 July 2014 to 30 June 2019.

If you are unsure if you require a resource consent please contact the consents team at Horizons on 0508 800 800.

Consent application forms and IWG Management Plan

All new intensive winter grazing or expansions established after June 2019 will need resource consent.

To assist with this Horizons has developed an IWG Management Tool to help you:

1. identify the information you need to fulfil the requirement of the application; and

2. which can be incorporated into your Fresh Water Farm plan in the future.

Click here for Horizons consent application form and the IWG Management Plan

In return for the one year deferment the farming sector and regional councils have agreed to make improvements to current practices this winter. Horizons will be implementing a monitoring programme around IWG practice within the region and the results of this, alongside water quality monitoring undertaken by Horizons, will be reported quarterly to central government. Horizons already has one of the larger State of the Environment monitoring programmes nationwide and this is proposed to increase through Council’s 2021-31 Long-term Plan.

To assist landowners to get a head start on the changes a 2021-22 Intensive Winter Grazing Module has been developed by central government, which gives guidance on IWG good management practice. It is expected this module will be incorporated into the wider certified Freshwater Farm Plan (FW-FP) which is currently being developed at a central government level. Consultation on the FW-FP is expected to take place mid-2021.

Paddock Risk Assessment Tool

Horizons’ rural advice team have also developed a Paddock Risk Assessment Tool which can be used on any device, when out on the farm, to do a quick assessment of paddock suitability for IWG. This information can be used as part of your management plan. Access the assessment tool here.

Further information

If you have any questions or would like help with your IWG resource consent application, you can email us at consents.enquiries@horizons.govt.nz or call on 0508 800 800.

Or for more industry specific information on IWG we suggesting contacting your industry group representative. The following links may be useful:

IWG Monitoring

In July 2021, Horizons will be undertaking monitoring of IWG to find out where Intensive Winter Grazing is happening in our region. Currently we have limited information on where this activity is occurring and to what extent. The monitoring programme is commencing as part of our obligations under the recent IWG deferral announced by central government and it will also assist in establishing a benchmark of IWG in the region.

As part of this programme Horizons will be engaging with farmers and working with their industry representatives to improve IWG practice within the region.

IWG Workshops Pahiatua and Bulls

DairyNZ, Beef & Lamb NZ, and Horizons Regional Council are holding public IWG workshops in Pahiatua and Bulls in June. The first is on 2 June at Bush Multisport Park, 57 Huxley Street, Pahiatua from 2 – 5pm and the second is on 3 June at the Bulls Community Centre, 4 Criterion Street, Bulls also from 2pm – 5pm. For more information and to register your interest go to either: www.beeflambnz.com or www.dairynz.co.nz websites.

These are the first in a series of workshops that will held throughout the region in June. Dates and venues to be confirmed. Please email ruraladviceteam@horizons.govt.nz if you are interested in attending a workshop in your area.

Sand country stockholding research underway

Massey University soil scientists Ranvir Singh and Dave Horne are working with Rangitīkei farmers to investigate the effects of stockholding areas on nutrient loss pathways in sand country. Currently five farmers have committed to funding the research with support from Horizons and the Farmed Landscape Research Centre at Massey University.

The research will increase both farmers’ and regional council’s knowledge about the environmental effects of this activity. This new information and knowledge will assist local farmers and Council in their assessment and management of any potential water quality impacts of consent applications for stockholding areas as required by the NES -F.

Synthetic nitrogen record keeping

From 1 July 2021, dairy farmers need to be keeping records of their synthetic nitrogen application for the year ending 30 June 2022 in order to report this to Horizons by 31 July 2022.

It is expected that the majority of dairy farmers will already be keeping these records as part of their contractual obligations to their dairy company. Horizons is in discussions with industry bodies to try and ensure we are not duplicating existing reporting obligations. For further information on the new synthetic nitrogen regulations follow this link to the Ministry for the Environment’s Managing nitrogen factsheet

Plan Change 2 - update

Horizons’ One Plan sets out how natural resources are managed in the Manawatū-Whanganui Region.

How the Horizons’ One Plan provisions were being applied when processing resource consent applications for existing intensive farming land use were challenged through the Environment Court in 2017. In response to this, Proposed Plan Change 2 – Existing Intensive Farming Land Uses to the Operative One Plan, was notified in July 2019.

The Plan Change 2 Hearing Panel received 116 submissions and their Recommendation Report was adopted at an extraordinary Regional Council meeting on 13 April 2021. The 30 day appeal process has been publicly notified and is currently open to anyone who made a submission to the Environment Court. The appeal timeframe takes us to 3 June 2021, although this will be extended for a few days to allow for notifications which were sent by post. A report on Plan Change 2 will be presented to Council on 22 June.

Horizons is aware this Plan Change process has created uncertainty and stress for landowners, we also acknowledge that our decision is an interim measure and more work needs to be done in this area.

Plan Change 2 enables Horizons to return to effective regulation of existing intensive farming land uses through the One Plan as soon as practicable. Horizons’ wider programme of work includes reviewing that effectiveness of the One Plan and what is required to give effect to the National Policy Statement – Freshwater Management 2020. This includes notifying a revised One Plan by the end of 2024.

The Proposed Plan Change was limited to the consideration of existing intensive land-use activities (dairy, commercial vegetable growing, arable farming, and irrigated sheep and beef) in order to ‘hold the line’ on intensification across the region.

The Plan Change has updated the cumulative nitrogen leaching maximums in Table 14.2 to reflect the best available OVERSEER modelling information; provides a workable pathway for existing intensive farming land use activities to apply for resource consent where they cannot meet Table 14.2 within targeted water management sub-zones; and reinforces good management practices as part of intensive farming land use activities.

Stockholding areas - rules come into force from 1 July

The NES-F rules for feedlots came into force on 3 September 2020. The rules for other stockholding areas comes into force on 1 July 2021 and consent applications must be made no later than 31 December 2021. For more information see Feedlots and other stockholding areas

Further information

For further information on the new regulations please see the Frequently Asked Questions on our website.

We are also preparing various factsheets to help you interpret the new NES-F regulations. These are being added to our website as they are produced. Our website also has a number of sections that may be of interest to you, including NPS-FM and details of community engagement underway, and FAQs.

We hope you have found this e-newsletter useful. If you have areas you would like us to cover in the next newsletter please email info@ourfreshwaterfuture.co.nz.