Agri Planz Ltd News Feed

The first velvetleaf of the season has been found in Otago

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The first velvetleaf of the season has been found in Otago and a Teviot Valley farmer is being praised for his vigilance in reporting it to the authorities.

The discovery of the 1m-high plant next to a fodder beet crop on the Teviot Valley property last week highlights the need for all landowners in the region to be on the lookout for the pest plant, the Otago Regional Council says.

Council director environmental monitoring and operations Scott MacLean praised the farmer for contacting an ORC contractor and said the plant was swiftly removed and destroyed.

Follow the link for the full story.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/the-country/news/article.cfm?c_id=16&objectid=11810513

Lucerne beats leaching cap at Taupo

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Landcare Research is proving that the age old practice of growing lucerne can help farmers.
Dr Malcolm McLeod, a soil scientist at Landcare Research has found that N leaching from cut and carry lucerne is 5kg/N/ha/year when previous estimates were up to 26kg/N/ha/year.
Read more about this article in the 6th June NZ Farmer.

http://nzfarmer.realviewdigital.com/?email-analytics=NZFarmer#folio=26

Environment Plans identifies profit opportunities

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A farm environment management plan has been done for this 1125 ha property as part of a trial by the Hawkes Bay Regional Council. Among other things the plan identified 17 soil types when the owners thought they had 5. Read more about the benefits to the owners of this Hawkes Bay farm.

http://nzfarmer.realviewdigital.com/?email-analytics=NZFarmer#folio=10

Dairy compliance progress steady

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See comments on the latest report on dairy compliance, visit
http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/ed58dbb8#/ed58dbb8/10
The yearly review of the Sustainable Dairying Water Accord (SDWA) shows steady progress for dairy farms in environmental matters.
The achievement with more than 25000km of fenced and measured waterways and nearly 43000 regular stock crossings that have bridges or culverts. Waterway exclusion for livestock is now a given.
One of the toughest challenges for the industry is collecting nutrient budget data.

National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management 2014

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See page 26 of the Southern Rural Life 24 February edition.
digital.southernrurallife.co.nz/olive/ode/srl_daily/
What central government is telling regional councils to do about maintaining and/or improving freshwater quality and quantity nationally.

Also a look at Environment Southlands Water and Land 2020 and Beyond project and its journey to meeting the goals for water quality and quantity in the region

Water problems not all farming's fault - Smith

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See page six for the above article.
issuu.com/ruralnewsgroup/docs/rn_602_march_1
See what Environment Minister Dr Nick Smith has to say about water quaility issues along with a round of national meetings to discuss the National Policy Statement on Fresh Water Management.
See what

Search for nitrogen solution

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See the latest news on N Leaching and searching for a solution. It can be found on pages 24 and 25 of the Southern Rural Life paper. See the attached link http://digital.southernrurallife.co.nz/olive/ode/srl_daily/

Scientists are working on a six-year project which combines expertise and resources DairyNZ, AgResearch, Plant and Food Research, Landcare Research, Lincoln University and the Foundation for Arable Research.

Overhaul of the Resource Management Act

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No waterway fences will bring instant fines!

Legislation aimed at overhauling the Resource Management Act will enable the Government to introduce national regulations that require farm stock to be fenced out of rivers and lakes, with instant fines for breaches.

Read the article: http://farmersweekly.co.nz/article/no-waterway-fences-will-bring-instant-fines?p=1

Except from the fourth Report of the Land and Water Forum.

Stock Exclusion

Government asked the Forum for advice on the form of a national regulation to exclude stock from
waterways. We have recommended a framework that excludes dairy cattle, beef cattle, deer and
pigs from waterways on the plains and in lowland hills over time, while allowing flexibility in the
means by which this is done. Under this framework, councils will be able to require exclusion of
stock from critical source areas and areas of ecological importance in terrain where the national
stock exclusion regulation does not apply – such as hill country.
We have also made recommendations requiring the appropriate riparian setbacks and management
strategies. We suggest that the appropriate setback width should vary at different points along the
waterway according to the terrain, the contaminants being managed, and the effectiveness of
alternative mitigations.

National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management

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While the dairy industry is in the spotlight for environmental compliance, other industry sectors such as sheep and beef and deer farmers need to be aware the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management affects them also.

The following article outlines some of the issues facing the industry
http://www.odt.co.nz/news/business/363415/compliance-serious-issue-meat-sector-too

Page 2 of the Business South paper has an interesting article by Chris Hutching "Farmers slow on uptake." This article relates to the number of farmers in Canterbury region that have knowledge of and have completed farm environmental plans.

See the link below
issuu.com/waterfordpresslimited/docs/business_south_5_2015_reduced/3