12. Question No. 12—AgricultureTEANAU TUIONO (Green) to the Minister of AgricultureQuestion No. 12—Agriculture12. TEANAU TUIONO (Green) to the Minister of Agriculture: What actions if any will the Government take in response to the findings in its Our land 2021 report that intensive agriculture and urban expansion can degrade the quality and health of soil and increase pollution in freshwater and marine environments? Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR (Minister of Agriculture): Our land 2021 confirmed that intensification of farming and urban expansion can impact on soil quality freshwater quality greenhouse gas emissions and water availability. These pressures have been well reported previously. The Government's vision for the primary sector Fit for a Better World acknowledges the need for sustainable systems and improving environmental management across all of these areas. We're co-funding multiple projects to this end while boosting economic growth and sustainability. Through the Sustainable Food and Fibre Futures fund we're contributing $10 million to trial and develop 12 farm nutrient technologies over five years. Through Jobs for Nature we've invested $10 million in five catchment group projects to help farmers and growers in land restoration. The Ministry for Primary Industries and the Ministry for the Environment are developing options to implement certified freshwater farm plans aimed at better controlling the adverse effects of farming on fresh water and freshwater ecosystems. We are developing a national policy statement for indigenous biodiversity one for urban development and one for productive soils. We are doing a lot to move forward in this area. Teanau Tuiono: Is the Government's decision to delay restrictions on intensive winter grazing for a year likely to make soil health and water quality better or worse this winter? Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR: There is a lot depending on the climate and the conditions through winter that does affect on-farm management but what we have clearly said for animal welfare purposes and for freshwater quality purposes is that we want farmers to acknowledge the challenge to put in place best practice and where necessary mitigate any of the adverse effects of intensive winter grazing in all areas of New Zealand. Teanau Tuiono: Is he comfortable with the environmental impacts of the 600 percent increase in the use of synthetic fertiliser and the 86 percent increase in the number of cows on intensive dairy farms in Aotearoa since 1990? Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR: Actually over recent years we've seen a decrease in the area of farmland and the number of dairy cows and in the use of phosphorous fertilisers. What we have seen is an increase in nitrogen fertilisers and that's one area of concern. There is now a cap per hectare on that to try and reduce the need for it and in fact good farm practice doesn't need that amount of nitrogen fertiliser. So we're doing a lot in this area to ensure that farming can indeed be sustainable and that we've put in place best farm practice. Hon David Parker: Does the national environment standard (NES) now in force stop inappropriate increases in the area of intensive winter grazing by providing that those significant increases are no longer a permitted activity? Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR: The NES does do this and it encourages farmers to look at alternative practices to intensive winter management and caring for animals through the winter period. We don't want to see animals starving or having insufficient feed but we do want to protect soil quality and water quality and ensure that the images of our farming systems offshore are the best in the world. Teanau Tuiono: Does he agree that cheap supplementary feeds like palm kernel expeller (PKE) enable dairy farming to be more intensive than the land can naturally handle and if so what will he do to reduce PKE imports? Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR: When the door was first opened to PKE importation it was because we were going through a severe drought and there will be times of the year and in different years when there is an acute shortage of feed. We need to make sure that animals do get sufficient feed. There has been an over-reliance on PKE and the initial 40000 tonnes that was allowed into the country has now expanded out to be 2 million tonnes per year. I personally would like to see a reduction in that and I think that both Fonterra through its limits and many farmers through good wise management have been reducing the reliance on PKE and that's a good thing. Hon David Bennett: Does the Minister stand by his comments in the annual review debate that it would be a subjective test that images of water pollution and ill-cared-for animals would be sufficient for him to determine that there has not been adequate process"?Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR: I hope I don't see any new photos; there'll be lots of old photos that might be bandied around of mistakes of the past. I'm hoping that we see no photos of what we'd call adverse or unfortunate farm practice. We're working with farmers in all parts of New Zealand and particularly in Southland to get alongside them to make sure that crops are planted in the right place that we don't have too many animals in the paddock at one time in an adverse event and that we do everything possible to mitigate any possible images of bad farming practice in New Zealand that might go out around the world."