Reminder to farmers about effluent management

Waikato Regional Council’s monitoring of effluent management has had mixed findings, prompting a reminder to those in the dairy sector who may have taken their ‘eye off the ball’ in recent months.

Following the recent easing of COVID-19 restrictions in the Waikato, the council’s Rural Compliance team has resumed its proactive monitoring of effluent management systems across the region’s 4000 dairy farms.

“Weather conditions have been pretty good for irrigating, and we would have expected to see effluent being used effectively as a fertiliser and not having a negative impact on the environment,” said rural compliance team leader Stu Stone.

“But we’ve found one in 10 of the farms visited either has not got adequate infrastructure in place, or their management practices have slipped.

“It is unfortunate that we are placed in a position of having to formally investigate the worst of these cases, and there is a real possibility that some of them may result in prosecution,” Mr Stone said.

“We strongly encourage farmers to connect with the wider industry to get good guidance on dairy effluent infrastructure. Accredited designers listed by DairyNZ are the appropriate people to get guidance from. They will design an effluent infrastructure system that is fit for purpose for that particular farm.”

Mr Stone reminded farmers that even with a good level of infrastructure there still needed to be investment made in staff training and all farm staff needed to be vigilant on a day-to-day basis to avoid mishaps.

If anybody sees an environmental issue anywhere in the community, or wants advice with a situation, please call the Waikato Regional Council on 0800 800 401.

Waikato Regional Council staff member sampling ponded effluent.