For the 2023-24 season, 400 dairy farm inspections were conducted to check feed and waste management, effluent storage and application and freshwater use on farms.
A Clydevale dairy farmer with more than 800 cows, Mark Shore said annual inspections were a fixture in farming culture.
"We’ve been doing this over 23 years with inspections the whole time, and we’ve got to make sure we meet the rules and regulations we farm under," Mr Shore said.
"They have changed, and us along with them, but I’ve never had a revisit ... There’s likely expenses or action you have to take if something is not up to their standards.
"Something that has changed totally over time are ways we manage effluent. Some people get low-rate systems, different forms of solid separation, options that weren’t even around 20 years ago. Farmers are seeing the nutrient value of effluent and applying it over a lot more land, especially with increasing fertiliser costs."
Farm inspections can be cold-calls but are are usually scheduled with a day’s notice, for a tour of dairy sheds, drainage, storage and waterways, and have no cost unless something needs to be upgraded.
"We’ve had inspectors who were dairy farmers who understood running dairy farms talking with us like consultants, with good ideas and suggestions.
"Other times you might get an environmental student-type showing up in tennis shoes just going by the book they brought with them from Wellington or wherever.
"It comes down to the farm and the people on both sides and we do try to do a good job. The last thing we want as owners of the business and the land — we don’t want to pollute it.
"But then we’ve just had two months of awful weather, so there is disruption and mistakes do happen and if you’ve had issues in the past you’ll probably be inspected more often.
"As farmers we’re sometimes pretty frustrated with regulation at the broader level but I would say yes, we have definitely watched water quality improve across our farms, especially the natural watercourses in recent years.
"The ways we used to farm were all we knew ... Inspections should be about keeping up with best-practice, and the education that goes along with that has empowered farmers to take the initiative with water care and catchment groups and lead the way to major environmental improvement ."
