Effluent breaches costly: ORC

Susie McKeague's sympathies are genuine when she talks about the impact on dairy farmers of being convicted for illegal dairy effluent discharge.

But it was also frustrating, she said. Some convictions could have been averted.

Some dairy farmers had not listened to warnings and advice, and had ignored the Otago Regional Council's carrot-instead-of-stick approach.

Mrs McKeague, who is Land Resources Manager for the Otago Regional Council, said court action was the last resort, and the result of some farmers not prioritising effluent management sufficiently highly.

"Every farmer knows about this . . . I wonder whether it has a high enough priority."

Although they were now seeing friends and neighbours being prosecuted, she feared it would take a stick approach to get some farmers complying.

In an interview, she posed the scenario of a farmer bringing cows in for milking and noticing a burst pipe feeding a travelling irrigator.

"Would they stop taking the cows in and fix it, drop a bale of straw in a gully if it was needed, turn it back on then continue taking in the cows and check it again in 30 minutes?"I'd like to think they would stop bringing in the cows to sort it out.

"It may mean the cows are 30 minutes or an hour later being milked, but I think I would rather milk the cows later and not have a criminal record."

Common breaches were: a faulty travelling irrigator causing ponding; leakage from an effluent pond with insufficient storage capacity; and effluent irrigated on to land with tile or mole drains.

Mrs McKeague said the issue of irrigating tile-drained land was a new priority for council, since it had been realised effluent was still reaching waterways from no obvious source.

Several farmers at Inch Clutha were prosecuted last season, but Mrs McKeague said she was delighted when farmers called seeking help during the last few wet weeks of winter.

They faced difficulties because of saturate soils and full effluent ponds, but with help from the council they were able to make their way through a difficult period.

It was the kind of relationship the council wanted with dairy farmers, Mrs McKeague said.

The council's farm infrastructure wish list included:

• Sealed effluent storage ponds able to hold three months worth of effluent.

• A travelling irrigator that applied 3mm to 4mm per application.

• Application area of up to 8ha per 100 cows.

• Waterways with buffer zones up to 3m wide, depending on the slope.

• Stream crossings to have culverts with bunds to stop effluent washing over the side.

• A buffer zone on lanes adjacent to a waterway.

• Drainage from the dairy shed yard fed into effluent storage.

• A buffer zone of up to 5m for greenfeed crops which are beside a waterway.

• Standoff area for cows grazing a greenfeed crop when exceptionally wet.

• Liquid storage capacity for drainage from standoff pads and silage pits.

• Careful placement of silage and offal pits in areas with a high ground water table.

• Nutrient budgeting to take account of effluent irrigation.

The council was taking a tougher stance with farmers, Mrs McKeague said. Where previously they might have been warned for a breach, now they were issued with an infringement notice.

Where previously they might have been sent an infringement notice, now the recommendation was for prosecution.

Mrs McKeague said she wanted farmers to adopt best practice with managing cow effluent.

Not only was it good for the region's waterways, but also on the stress levels of farmers enduring criminal prosecution.

The facts

• 24 Otago farmers were charged for illegal dairy effluent discharge last season.

• Two cases are still to be considered by the courts.

• Fines range from $2000 to $38,000 with the average fine about $5000.

• With 120 of the 379 Otago farms inspected, eight breaches were being investigated.