Farm plan solution for Southland

Environment Southland welcomes the Government’s announcement to support Southland farmers and growers with farm plans.

The Government has put in place a regulatory change that provides Southland farmers with a further 18 months (until mid-2026) to comply with the rules in the Southland Water and Land Plan and submit a farm plan for certification.

Without this new timeframe, Southland farmers would have been required to have a farm plan by the end of November 2024.

Farm plans have long been a cornerstone of Southland’s approach to managing environmental contamination risks associated with farming activities and are a key tool in the Southland Water and Land Plan.

Environment Southland Chairman Nicol Horrell said it was a common-sense solution for Southland farmers and growers.

“For many years we’ve worked alongside farmers to provide support because we recognise the value of risk-based farm plans for getting environmental improvements.

“The really good thing about the Southland Farm Plans is the requirement in our plan to tailor them to the unique circumstances of individual properties and the catchments they are in.”

Chairman Horrell said the Environment Court process for the Water and Land Plan led to a strengthened role for farm plans, which was supported in principle by all parties.

“Given the long history of working with farm plans in Southland, I’m confident farmers here will comfortably move forward with the Southland Farm Plans.”

Updated and simplified national regulations are expected in the first half of next year and Environment Southland is also looking at how it can make improvements to its farm plan rules.

The next two years will be focused on working with the community and stakeholders at both the catchment and property scale to encourage positive action. Over the coming months, Environment Southland will be sharing catchment-specific information with opportunities for action to support farmers to develop and refine their Southland Farm Plans.

“Our message to farmers continues to be – ‘start pulling together the information for your farm plan now’. We will be there to support you to share the latest information we have.” Chairman Horrell said.

Updated material including guidance for creating a farm plan is being tested with farmers currently and will form part of the rollout over the coming months.

For further advice on farm plans, please call Environment Southland on 0800 76 88 45 or go to www.es.govt.nz/farmplans

Ministers' Press Statement

Hon Todd McClay - Minister of Agriculture

Hon Penny Simmonds - Minister for the Environment

Hon Andrew Hoggard - Associate Minister for the Environment

21 November 2024

Government action provides Southland farmers more time to meet plan requirements

The Government is taking action to ensure Southland farmers and growers are not affected by unreasonable regional farm plan deadlines, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay, Environment Minister Penny Simmonds and Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard say.

“Cabinet has agreed to provide more time for farmers and growers to comply with regional rules in the Southland Water and Land Plan, by providing alternate national timelines,” Mr McClay says.

“Southland’s regional plan contains a requirement for farmers to prepare a farm plan by the end of this year, if the national system is not in place.

“Cabinet’s decision will remove uncertainty for farmers in the region who would have been unable to meet these timeframes, giving them until mid-2026 to meet the regional requirements.

“We do not want to see hard-working farmers and growers in the region impacted through no fault of their own.”

In October, the national freshwater farm plan system was paused to enable improvements to make it more cost-effective and practical for farmers.

“Our action will avoid unnecessary duplication and give farmers more time to develop farm plans which are practical and fit-for-purpose,” Mr Hoggard says.

“We are committed to simplifying the system and removing red tape.”

Cabinet’s decision will enable the change to take effect in Southland only.

“We have worked closely with Environment Southland to swiftly come up with a workable solution to support Southland farmers,” Ms Simmonds says.

“This targeted change will mean that national and regional farm planning systems are well aligned to avoid duplication, uncertainty, and cost.

“We intend to finalise changes to the national freshwater farm plan system by mid-2025.”