Federated Farmers Southland president Jason Herrick said he had had multiple reports of farmers being issued ES non-compliance winter-grazing invoices and ES staff entering on to farms without the farms’ management’s knowledge.
But Environment Southland compliance manager Donna Ferguson said Mr Herrick’s claims were inaccurate as invoices were only issued to recover costs from farmers where there had been a confirmed breach.
Staff also would contact farmers prior to ensure health and safety or the operational needs of the farmer were considered, if contact information was available, she said.
Mr Herrick said any compliance officer going on to farms who was not "farm savvy", or lacked good stock sense or knowledge of the site’s hazards, was a significant operational and safety concern for farmers.
There had also been widespread confusion about changes to winter-grazing buffer zones.
There also seemed to be a grey area around the definition of what a critical source area was.
"ES staff are telling farmers it’s any undulation or any little dip in the paddock that leads to a waterway after a rain event."
The lack of communication from ES’ operations was unfair and eroding trust rather than building good relationships with the sector, he said.
ES conducted initial winter-grazing compliance checks using helicopter "fly-overs", which were later followed up with site visits on farms that appeared to be non-compliant.
Ms Ferguson said monitoring compliance of winter grazing, particularly around required buffer distances, in most cases led to advice and education for landowners or operators to improve practices and meet standards. More serious breaches might be referred for formal investigation.
"We undertake cost recovery so that ratepayers do not pay for the cost of investigating and undertaking enforcement action where non-compliance occurs."
Up to 75 incidents had been logged, of which 49 had been fully investigated by warranted compliance officers.
Twenty-eight compliant farmers were contacted and advised no further action or cost recovery was required, while 21 non-compliance incidents had been investigated and a further 26 were still under investigation.
The council’s approach to winter-grazing compliance was education first, Ms Ferguson said.
"We remain committed to supporting our community through fair and transparent compliance processes."
Mr Herrick said informing farmers rather than punishing them would be more constructive.
Farmers understood the need for good environmental practices and compliance, but being invoiced for a visit where there were no breaches or problems was "incredibly frustrating".
ES needed to take a more constructive approach with its practices, he said.
"There’s definitely a lot of issues there that need to be sorted out," he said.
By Toni McDonald
