Federated Farmers cheers end to 'war on farming' as government trumpets Resource Management Act changes

In its continuing rush of reform, the coalition Government is moving to make regulatory compliance easier for primary industries such as farming and mining. 

Among other things, it will remove the need for councils, companies and individuals to comply with rules under the Te Mana o te Wai provisions of the previous Government’s National Policy Statement for Fresh water Management of 2020 (NPS-FM).

The new law, dubbed Resource Management Bill 1 (RM Bill 1), will bring in this and other changes during the year, while new legislation to replace the whole of the Resource Management Act (RMA) is developed

RM Bill 1 is expected to be introduced to Parliament next month.

 The RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop says the change will give certainty to councils and economic sectors and consent applicants, and sectors, including farming, mining and other primary industries.

“These sectors are critical to rebuilding the New Zealand economy,” Bishop says.

 The Bill will also amend livestock exclusion rules on sloping land, repeal intensive winter grazing regulations rules and suspend the requirement for councils to identify new Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) for three years, as was promised earlier.

 Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says the rules on stock exclusion and on sloping land will be based on actual risk.  Farm organisations had earlier complained of maps showing areas of restriction that did not reflect the reality for each individual farm.

“Cabinet has agreed changes to stock exclusion and winter grazing regulations representing a move to a more risk-based, catchment-focused approach,” McClay says. 

“Importantly, effective non-regulatory measures are already in place to support the continued improvement of winter grazing practices going forward. Sector groups have confirmed their continued and collective commitment to work alongside farmers and regional councils to ensure good outcomes.”

“Regional councils tell us there have been significant improvements in winter grazing practices, with farmers changing where they plant fodder crops and how they manage winter grazing. The national requirement for farmers to obtain prescriptive and expensive winter grazing consents is being removed in time for the 2025 season, and instead being managed through good practice and regional council plans."

Winter grazing is an especially important in Southland, where cattle are brought to lower altitudes to allow the regrowth of grass on hillsides during very cold winters. The rules were changed after animal welfare activists released pictures of cows wallowing and even giving birth in mud in confined areas during the winter grazing months. But farm groups complained of selective editing of the activists’ videos, and said farmers were as interested in their stock welfare as anyone, since it brings in their livelihood.

The Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard says property and catchment-specific farm plans make sense because they can be used to identify environmental risks and plan practical on-farm solutions.

The sweep of reforms have been welcomed by farmer groups.  

Beef + Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ) says it has been asking for changes like these, saying the “current rules have been problematic and impractical in their one-size--fits-all approach. " 

“This announcement will be a relief for many farmers who were faced with an unnecessary regulatory burden and significant on-farm compliance costs,” says the organisation’s chair," Kate Acland.

“Farmers need clarity and certainty.”

Federated Farmers is even more emphatic, saying a “war on farming” is coming to an end.

"These impractical rules have been a nightmare since the day they were introduced," says Federated Farmers freshwater spokesperson, Colin Hurst.

"They were rushed through before the 2020 election cycle by overzealous regulators with a complete disregard for who would have to implement them from behind the farm gate." 

"Regulation needs to be practical, pragmatic and affordable."

However the Labour Party says the changes will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits.

“These changes are being pushed through fast to avoid public scrutiny,” says the party’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking.

“They will water down rules that prevent our rivers from being polluted, and our native species being protected."

The Green Party says the reforms will add to the “heavy and ever-growing burden this Government is loading on to our environment." 

“This legislation will accelerate the decline of our natural world and add fuel to the climate crisis fire in what is another classic case of environmental mismanagement from this Government,” says its environment spokesperson Lan Pham. 

 “This is an absurd dereliction of duty.”