9. Question No. 9—AgricultureTEANAU TUIONO (Green) (remote) to the Minister of AgricultureQuestion No. 9—Agriculture9. TEANAU TUIONO (Green) (remote) to the Minister of Agriculture: Does the Government have any plans to regulate winter grazing over this winter to avoid cows up to their hocks in mud with nowhere comfortable to rest; if not why not?Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR (Minister of Agriculture) (remote): [Audio issue].SPEAKER: Turn your mute off Damien.Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR: It's up to your staff. I thought your staff were doing that Mr Speaker. In 2019 I appointed an independent task force to look into this issue and they made recommendations on what farmers needed to do to improve their winter grazing conditions. Key recommendations included that intensive winter grazing should only be used where it's suited to the land and the stock class it can be well-managed winter grazing contracts and farm management plans must be used—SPEAKER: Sorry Mr O'Connor. There's a bit of hilarity happening on both sides of the House. There's a suggestion you're in your pyjamas.Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR: Well—ha ha! Mr Speaker we're out in the provinces here. We don't need a suit—we don't need a suit out here Mr Speaker. Winter grazing is also regulated by the Animal Welfare Act and freshwater farm regulations. In addition to these safeguards that will be in place this winter we're strengthening the rules for intensive winter grazing from 1 November this year; that will make it more practical for farmers and better protection for both the environmental and animal welfare outcomes.Teanau Tuiono: Supplementary. Can I also confirm that I'm not in my pyjamas Mr Speaker but my supplementary is did the—SPEAKER: Well I think it's traditional wear for people who have got COVID so he's OK.Teanau Tuiono: All right. OK. Well I'll remember that next time. Supplementary: did the agriculture sector support further delays of intensive winter grazing regulations over winter 2022 and if so is he confident our agriculture industry is committed enough to adopt best-practice environmental protection and animal welfare measures in the 21st century?Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR: Absolutely. The delay in implementation of the intensive winter grazing regulations was to ensure that they were practical that farmers could implement them and that the outcomes that we sought could be achieved. This timing allows the crop to be planted in the right place to ensure the best winter grazing practice for 2023. On top of that this Budget allocated $30 million additional for animal welfare compliance so the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) people will be out on the ground ensuring that best winter grazing practice occurs this winter.Teanau Tuiono: Will MPI help ensure that technical guidance of the new regulations is available by mid-2022 and if not does he see a risk that action on winter grazing could be delayed for even longer?Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR: No. Farmers now have to abide by the Animal Welfare Act which ensures that they must maintain adequate standards of protection shelter water and lie in places that are not muddy—excessively muddy—for animals. So the current law protects those animals. In addition to the advisory services that we have $50 million on top of the $30 million for animal welfare has been provided in Budget 2022 to ensure that farmers have access to good advice and guidance for best farming practice which includes winter grazing. Teanau Tuiono: Does the Minister agree that New Zealand agriculture being viewed as slow on the uptake of modern environmental climate and animal welfare measures is bad for the long-term sustainability of New Zealand's export revenue and if not why not?Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR: If that was indeed the perception I would agree but in fact the RSPCA has recently put out a report saying that New Zealand's animal welfare standards surpass those of the UK which they maintain are the highest in the world. So while there'll always be room for improvement I would advocate and say that most farm practice maintains the highest animal welfare standards. There are of course always exceptions and for those farms and farming operations that don't meet those high standards we have to check up on and prosecute where necessary.Mark Cameron: Does the Minister accept that winter grazing practices are nuanced and laws should be tailored to acknowledge regulatory practices given consideration that there are variations like acknowledging local topography variations in soil aggregate and seasonal rainfall variations and if so will he return such regulatory powers to local councils as per my member's bill? Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR: I absolutely agree that every single farm and every single farm system will be unique—bespoke I think is the trendy word. We have to ensure that the regulations laid down maintain high animal welfare standards regardless of the farm systems in place but I think it's quite clear in working with the local councils that we can be sufficiently flexible to ensure that the highest standards of animal welfare and environmental regulations can be maintained while allowing for flexibility. I'm not convinced that it requires a separate piece of legislation; the existing laws provide that flexibility—implementing them is the challenge that we all have. Teanau Tuiono: What is his view on academic findings recently published in a journal that Although it is a widely held belief that New Zealand dairy farming is the most effective and environmentally sustainable in the world this is not true."Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR: I'd have to say that our animal welfare standards and our production systems are some of the most natural and regenerative in the world; however they're not perfect. What we are attempting to do—by support of the new research and development and new support for regenerative discussion groups ever-improving practices across our farm systems—is become the best farmers for the world. We have a unique farming system in New Zealand. I think it is one of the best in the world; we'll continue to improve it as needed. Teanau Tuiono: Can the Minister sympathise with those across Aotearoa who believe that our agriculture sector is not pulling its weight to improve animal welfare outcomes reduce emissions clean up our rivers and restore biodiversity and if not why not?Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR: I don't agree that we're not pulling our weight. I think these are complex biological systems and there's a huge amount of capital investment—change does take some time. I think between the Minister for the Environment between myself and the Government we're giving clear signals that we must improve across areas of fresh water quality animal welfare and sustainability. So I think we're making good progress and the last Budget gave sufficient resources to assist us more quickly along that path."