5 minutes with Kate Scott Landpro Executive Director Kate Scott on how farmers can prepare for increasing water and land-use regulation.
Kate Scott’s advice to farmers and growers on what to do now: Participate in things like plan changes and catchment groups. Prepare your Farm Environment Plan and nutrient budgets. Implement good management practices. Stay positive as there is opportunity in change and power in knowledge. Remember your passion for the primary sector.
6 | THE FARMLANDER
What are some of the common questions you get asked? I have had my fair share of ‘out there’ questions but some of the more common lately are focused on all the proposed freshwater changes. We are also getting a bunch of questions around the Intensive Winter Grazing standards and how they might impact on our clients. One of the standout ones here, particularly for the sheep and beef sector, is around the slope rules as there is a lot of crop on land over 10 degrees slope, which means that to continue to crop this area they will either need to get a consent or go down the Certified Freshwater Farm Plans route once it’s available.
Another question I am asked a lot, usually in the context of farmers and growers looking to purchase additional land or add land to their current property, is what can I use this land for given all the rules that have changed. If you are looking to purchase property, I would really recommend talking to your advisors to make sure that you can use the land the way you intend to. What should farmers and growers be doing now? It is sometimes really tough to know where to start, with all the uncertainty and change we have in the sector at present, particularly in terms of the various environmental rules/regulations. It might often feel simplest to do nothing at all.
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