Intensive farming consents scrutinised

Horizons water quality scientist Logan Brown was out testing Rangitikei River water in 2012. PHOTO/ FILE

Two days in the Environment Court last week could set some national precedents in the way intensive farming is regulated to protect the environment.

The hearing happened because environment watchdogs Fish & Game and the Environmental Defence Society want rulings on the way Horizons Regional Council has been giving consent for intensive dairy farms.

By the time it had battled its way through 10 years of litigation Horizons' One Plan had some of New Zealand's toughest measures to retain water quality. The way it has been implemented hasn't matched them, the watchdogs say.

The biggest issue has been the way nitrogen from intensive farms leaches into freshwater, causing nuisance algae growth, stripping it of oxygen and affecting instream life.

The writers of the plan thought 80 per cent of dairy farmers would meet its nitrogen leaching restrictions. They judged that using a computer programme called Overseer that estimates leaching.

But the next version of Overseer came up with different numbers. Based on them only 20 per cent of farmers could meet the restrictions. The other 80 per cent would need "restricted discretionary consents".

Faced with this councillors made a resolution that farm profitability as well as environmental effects would be weighed up when consents were given.

That resolution was one of seven the watchdogs want the Environment Court to rule on. They want it revoked and the court was told that would happen at the full council meeting next Tuesday.

They also want more robust assessment of environmental effects, both short and long term, more enforcement of measures that limit environmental effects and more detailed reasons for granting those restricted consents given.

The Environment Court heard their concerns on February 13 and 14, in Wellington. The watchdogs were backed by other individuals and groups.

They said farms with those restricted discretionary consents were untethered from an understood structure, and working under loose and arbitrary rules with uncertain results.

On the other side of the court room were lawyers defending the way Horizons has granted consents, backed by Federated Farmers, Fonterra and DairyNZ.

They said Horizons was working within the One Plan and resource law, and the council should be free to weigh up factors on individual farms.

Horizons' policy and regulatory manager Nic Peet said 57 to 60 per cent of waterways in the region had improving quality and farmers were asked to do what was achievable.

Judge Craig Thompson and two commissioners listened to their arguments and asked questions.

Meanwhile agriculture is changing quickly, and Government wants to double agricultural exports by 2025. Intensive farms are veering toward a northern hemisphere model where animals are more confined and waste is concentrated.

When thousands in Havelock North succumbed to water-borne illness last year some people blamed intensive farming. The Hawke's Bay regional council is now working toward regulating feedlots.

Planners in other regions will pay close attention to what the court decides.