Bennett David; O'Connor DamienHon DAVID BENNETT (National): Thank you Madam Chair. So Minister you said they were draft proposals. Were they designed as a draft those regulations that came out last year then?Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR (Minister of Agriculture): No. Some of those were proposals that as I say they were with the best of intent a way of putting in line a bottom line. The planting dates need to be worked through—issues like tagging. So the slope maps and the maps that were put out there were clearly mistakes and we are working through to rectify that. I don't think that we would ever claim perfection. We've acknowledged that mistakes were made. But the intent of what we want—and that is better water quality for all New Zealanders—is one we're still determined to achieve.Hon DAVID BENNETT (National): OK then. So the 190 kilograms is that going to be reviewed or not?Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR (Minister of Agriculture): No that won't be. And in terms of nitrogen applied I've had extensive conversations and discussions with farmers across there and the vast majority of them say Actually 190 is OK. We can live with that." And where beyond that is being used anywhere in this country you are probably wasting money and you are probably not making the best utilisation of your land or your stock or the grass that you grow.Hon DAVID BENNETT (National): Is the nitrate type acidity rate going to stay as it is?Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR (Minister of Agriculture): Those issues have been worked through. In fact we will still aim to achieve those target figures of the nitrate toxicity. As I say we don't have a dissolved inorganic nitrogen figure in there. It is a complex area but those bottom lines will still be there. In terms of how we get there those are the things that we are discussing.Hon DAVID BENNETT (National): So is that a yes that the 95 percent is retained? [Interruption] The 95 percent nitrate toxicity rate will be retained?Hon Damien O'Connor: The 95?Hon DAVID BENNETT: Percent toxicity rate.Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR (Minister of Agriculture): The target figures that we put out there for nitrate toxicity will remain in place.Hon DAVID BENNETT (National): Cool. Have you done any analysis of what that's going to mean for mid-Canterbury and the number of hectares that will go out of dairying?Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR (Minister of Agriculture): There has been some analysis done by the Ministry for the Environment (MfE) some by the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) but I don't necessarily accept the figures that have been bandied around. I think the innovative approach that most farmers take in this country means they will adapt and is already what we are seeing and the underlying assumption that if you irrigate land it will go into dairy is in my view a faulty one. And we are already seeing other high-value land uses across the Canterbury Plains in terms of seed production making good utilisation of that water.Hon DAVID BENNETT (National): Yeah so with that what are those projected numbers that are existing dairy that would go out of dairy under those rates? If you say you've got MfE and MPI can I have both of those numbers in hectares please?Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR (Minister of Agriculture): Look I can't recall. I'm happy to get for the member the figures in terms of what areas may adjust. If I can go to I guess a more recent report in terms of direction of travel for agriculture and that is to the Climate Commission's report in terms of our target for emissions reduction they were talking about a 15 percent possible reduction in stocking rates which has alarmed some farmers because they think that someone is going to come in and impose that on them; they will not. What the commission has said is that with existing technology if we are to reach those targets we might end up seeing a reduction as farmers opt to do different things. But what they have said is that production they think will remain the same.I think a very good example of what people thought would never be achieved would have been a halving of the number of sheep that effectively occurred from 1985 to now but retaining the same volume of production from those sheep. So the same kind of innovation I am sure and confident will occur across the livestock sector from whatever sector it is."