Feds flags SNA regs for lack of clarity

Neal Wallace NEWS Environment

NEW regulations intended to further protect indigenous biodiversity have failed to fix flaws identified in earlier drafts, a farming leader says.

The regulations become law in August.

Federated Farmers board member Mark Hooper said the final version of the National Policy Statement on Indigenous Biodiversity (NPSIB) ignores suggestions made on earlier drafts to provide clarity and use plain language so landowners can understand their obligations.

“Landowners need to understand and interpret what is expected of them so they can avoid activity that involves Significant Natural Areas,” Hooper said.

“What we ended up with didn’t meet those goals.

“Where we had hoped for certainty, now we have got increased uncertainty.”

District and city councils will primarily be responsible for enforcing and administering the NPSIB from August 4. Hooper said this will increase tension and he questioned whether there are sufficient ecologists and other experts available to support the policy.

Councils will work with landowners to identify SNAs and, depending on what stage councils are at, a report prepared for the Ministry for the Environment (MFE) estimates one-off and ongoing costs over the next 30 years for implementation and administering the policies.

14% and the lack of capable staff, calf meal up, electricity up, it all adds to calf buyers looking for value for money and essentially driving the price down at the farm gate, making it a lossmaking exercise for farm owners and share farmers to sell calves at the market.”

His Murray Grey bull calves usually sell for $110-$150/head.

“Last season they sold for $30, which didn’t cover the costs of the NAIT tag, transport and calfrearing costs.”

Muir said that on a $6/kg CW beef schedule, a two-year-old 300kg dairy beef bull will sell for around $1800, earning the farmer a $1200 margin over two seasons.

Muir believed the high rearing costs will mean fewer calves reared by rearers, but possibly more will be reared by dairy farmers as they look to supplement their income due to the stagnant milk price forecast.

“It’s very hard to predict how many calves will be reared in total. Keep in mind that rearing calves is a hard game.”

Muir said CMR has fallen by around $10 to range from $80 to $90 while whey or non-curding CMRs will be around $75/bag, about $5 less than last year.

A premium CMR at $85 a bag and fed at 125 g/litre costs 53 cents per litre. At $75 a bag, a non-curding CMR works out at 47 cents a litre.

In contrast, the cost of calf meal has lifted $100 a tonne to be around $1150 for 16% protein pellets and $1200 for 20% protein pellets.

“Because of the uncertainty around ingredients, together with cost of imported ingredients (such as soya meal) in calf meals, few suppliers will guarantee their prices beyond June,” he said.

Muir said it is difficult to provide an accurate indicator of calf rearing costs because every rearer has a different setup.

Some rearers have ready access to cheaper calves or low-cost whole milk. Larger rearers get better discounts on CMR and calf meals and have economies of scale with labour. Mortality and animal health costs vary.

It’s very hard to predict how many calves will be reared in total. Keep in mind that rearing calves is a hard game.

Paul Muir On-Farm Research

These factors all impact the bottom line, Muir said. In a hypothetical scenario, Muir said a rearer will have a fixed rearing cost of around $440 per calf. This includes a $150 margin to cover labour and profit. However, the variable costs of calves, cartage and commission at point of selling need to be added to this.

“If the price for good spring calves is $100, rearers need a net average sale price in excess of $540 a calf to be profitable,” he said.

Mark Hooper Federated Farmers

It also fails to acknowledge existing biodiversity protection by landowners, Hooper said, instead focusing on preventing further loss but without providing any obvious metric or quantitative way for landowners to measure Significant Natural Areas (SNAs).

The cost for territorial authorities is estimated at between $500,000 and $2.6 million, regional councils $800,000 to $2.1m and unitary authorities $1.3m to $4.7m.

The estimated cost to the Department of Conservation is between $3.6m and $5.1m and central government support for Tangata Whenua is $14.6m, although some of that will offset to territorial authorities.

The opportunity cost for private and Māori owners for land used for infrastructure, mining and quarrying that contains SNAs, is calculated at $32.5m, described as “a one-off short term cost”.

The bulk of SNAs are on Māori and public land.

An MFE spokesperson said councils are already required to protect SNAs under the Resource Management Act (RMA), but the NPSIB provides guidance that is clearer and tighter.

An area qualifies as an SNA when it has ecological representativeness, diversity and pattern and rarity and distinctiveness.

The spokesperson said SNA criteria have been tightened to ensure protected areas have the most significant biodiversity.

Common indigenous species classified as “at risk” do not by themselves trigger an SNA but if there is any debate over identification of SNAs, a physical inspection is required.

Another change is that matagouri and mānuka will no longer trigger an SNA unless they are rare in a region.

Existing activities such as grazing and forestry can continue under the NPSIB provided their effects remain at the same level and do not increase the loss of native plants or animals in an SNA. There are no requirements for fencing or pest control.

The government is exploring a biodiversity credit system to incentivise farmers to undertake conservation protection work of native plants and animals.

Funding of nearly $20m over four years to support NPSIB implementation and the biodiversity credits work was allocated in last year’s budget. For landowners applying for resource consent for new activities or developments that may affect native plants and animals, the MFE advises more requirements may have to be met.