Exposed! Non-reporting of fertiliser use in NZ’s most intensive dairy regions.

Newsroom reporter, David Williams

Reporting on levels of fertiliser use in Aotearoa/New Zealand’s three most intensive dairy regions (Waikato, Canterbury and Southaland) is being flouted by thousands of farmers reports Newsroom’s David Williams.

As part of the government’s policy to clean up our waterways Environment Minister David Parker drove a package of measures which included setting a cap on synthetic nitrogen fertiliser at 190 kg/ha. p.a. While environmental groups consider this cap is way too high, it is at least a step in the right direction; however, relies on farmer compliance in reporting fertiliser use.

Yet in the 3 regions above – which apply 2/3 of Aotearoa/New Zealand’s nitrogen fertiliser, and where our water quality is worst – levels of reporting has been abysmal, with just 28% of farmers submitting data in Waikato.

Williams asks 'how it is possible to restore the health of our water by capping excessive fertiliser use, when thousands of farms haven’t provided data?' Good question!

Forest & Bird’s Freshwater Advocate, Tom Kay, also expresses his frustration:

"Improving the environment requires upholding bottom lines, this is one of them, and it’s not even that substantial”

Here in Hawkes Bay fertiliser use is monitored under the Regional Council’s Plan Change 6 (PC6) which requires farmers to provide nutrient budgets as part of annual Farm Environmental Management Plans (FEMPs). The aim of the nutrient budget is to identify and then minimise nutrient loses from a property – where water quality is deemed worse than established guidelines, resource consents are required.

Levels of compliance in submitting FEMP’s has not been reported recently; however, certainly Federated Farmers described PC6 in 2020 as the being “the biggest regulatory challenge that CHB has ever faced”, and were meeting with Regional Council councillors and staff to ‘broker a solution’.

The last word goes to Williams, who comments:

“Everything will continue getting worse if council don’t put money into compliance and enforcement, and without ‘real oversight’ from a central agency such as the Ministry for the Environment”

Wise Water Use agree, and would add that central government should also launch an investigation into water allocation volumes in the Tukutuki catchment - having 10 CHB water users (most of them intensive dairy operations) allocated 59% of groundwater and 67% of surface water is neither fair nor sustainable.

Trevor Le Lievre (Spokesperson, Wise Water Use)