6 August 2020. Beef+Lamb NZ B+LNZ has completed a preliminary assessment of the essential freshwater rules that became law on 5 August. The following email has been sent to farmers. --------------- Yesterday the Government released the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management (NPS), National Environmental Standards for Freshwater (NES) and stock exclusion regulations. Copies of the new rules can be [...]
Taken from: Our Land Our Water - National Science Challenges New research from the Our Land and Water National Science Challenge shows that producing carbon-neutral dairy products can also decrease nitrogen leaching by 42% New Zealand’s farmers have been given the freedom to set their own path to reduce greenhouse gas emissions on farm, with a 2022 deadline for making [...]
tuff News, 1 October 2019 Farmers are worried about proposed water policy changes, but their concerns are largely based on a fear of the unknown, says Northland dairy farmer Andrew Booth. In recent weeks social media has been rife with comments from on-edge farmers, and small town halls packed to the rafters as officials have been quizzed over the proposals. [...]
BOPRC Media Release 16 August 2019 Rotorua locals are one step closer to having a cleaner lake, following an interim Environment Court decision on Lake Rotorua nutrient management rules that has been released this week. Bay of Plenty Regional Council Chief Executive Fiona McTavish said that the rules (Plan Change 10) are one method in a broad suite of lake clean-up [...]
Farmers Weekly 22 August 2019 The Environment Court’s interim decision to uphold Plan Change 10 rules for nitrogen allocation in Rotorua Lakes District has been welcomed by farmers as a win for common sense and rural communities. The 70-plus farmers in the catchment have been fighting what they see as an about turn by Rotorua Lakes District Council after it [...]
STUFF: by Heather Chalmers 25 September 2018 Cutting cow numbers is just one of several options dairy farmers are using to meet looming nitrogen leaching reduction targets. Nitrogen is a key nutrient to grow grass on farms, but when there is more in the soil than plants can use it is at risk of leaching into groundwater, or runs off into [...]
Stuff - Gerald Piddock - 8 May 2018 Agriculture Minister Damien O'Connor has denied the Government is pushing to put a cap on New Zealand's dairy cow numbers. Instead, it wanted farmers to better manage their nutrient outputs to improve water quality standards to make rivers swimmable, he told about 500 farmers at a forum at Mystery Creek on Tuesday. [...]
In what has been described as a landmark decision for the future of Lake Rotorua, new rural land use rules will be notified later this month. The Bay of Plenty Regional Council today unanimously voted to accept a report and recommendations from the Independent Hearing Panel relating to Plan Change 10. The decision was part of the regional direction and [...]
A new video series has been launched this week showcasing the good management practices adopted by local Rotorua farmers to help meet the nutrient targets set out in PC10. Simon Maxwell - Island Films In the ten 3-5 minute videos, Rotorua farmers talk about how they applied a particular good management practice or 'GMP' on their farm. GMP [...]
Sunlive 4 April 2017 Work has started on a three year ‘Phosphorus Mitigation Project' to understand how detainment bunds can help prevent phosphorus moving from farm land to Lake Rotorua. The project has been initiated by local farmers who are keen to trial new ways of minimising nutrient losses because too much phosphorus and nitrogen can cause water quality problems [...]
