Consultation on the proposal for land with a local slope of less than 5 degrees where beef cattle and deer will be required to be excluded from waterways is underway. The Government is looking for feedback on practicality, or alternatives

The Government’s proposed changes to the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) and low-slope map for stock exclusion came after repeated calls for action by many farmers and various industry groups and people who value food production and rural communities.

In regard to the low-slope map for stock exclusion consultation, farmers have the opportunity to make their own submissions to the Ministry for the Environment (MfE) on proposed changes..

Specific farm-based examples of why the current stock exclusion rules won’t work, and what would need to be done differently to make the rules work on their farms are valuable, so this is a call to you to have your voice heard on this important subject.

The options proposed by the Government include:

• complete removal of the low-slope map and its replacement with a freshwater farm plan
• keep the low-slope map but have a farming intensity exception; or
• keep the low-slope map – but have a potential alternative pathway through a freshwater farm plan.

The second area are ETS consultations. The Government is consulting on changes to the ETS and has recently released two sets of consultation materials:

• an overarching review of the ETS and the role of forestry within it; and
• one specifically on potential changes to the permanent category of the ETS.

The consultation materials can be viewed on the MfE’s website, or you can contact your Beef + Lamb, Dairy NZ or Fed Farmers representative for how to make a submission.

The proposed changes to the ETS could help address the number of whole farms being sold for exotic forestry planting as a result of the increasing carbon price, these changes will go some way to addressing the risk of food production loss and export revenue for New Zealand.

Changes to the National Policy Statement on Indigenous Biodiversity (NPSIB) are needed; the Government’s new NPSIB is not the outcome farmers or New Zealand need. The Government are not listening hard enough to farmers concerns or the concerns of many respected biodiversity experts. The concept of biodiversity credits to incentivise farmers to protect and enhance biodiversity on their land is positive, but the proposed legislation remains fundamentally flawed.

The definition of a Significant Natural Area (SNA) remains far too broad and limits what farmers can do on that land.

Sheep and beef farmers are already looking after a large portion of indigenous biodiversity with 24% of the country’s native vegetation cover on sheep and beef farms, second only to the conservation estate. So It is critical that this work is recognised and rewarded. Biodiversity should be an asset and recognised as such. But the NPSIB will add substantial costs and a significant time burden on landowners and likely still make biodiversity a liability.

Listen to the episode to get the full picture.

Angus Kebbell is the Producer at Tailwind Media. You can contact him here.