ORC’s Councillor Robbie Byars said the annual farm audits form a significant part of ORC’s Compliance programme with staff aiming to visit between 300 and 400 farms in the coming months.

“We appreciate weather-wise it’s been a challenging spring for farmers, especially in parts of Otago.

“Our staff are visiting farms with the aim of supporting and working with Otago farmers towards compliance while understanding their challenges.”

Otago has 481 dairy farms with the majority clustered around the Clutha and Waitaki districts, and most of the remainder on the Taieri Plains, Maniototo, the Manuherekia and Ida Valley and Hawea Flat areas.

Farms are risk assessed based on a few factors including size and previous compliance history.

With extreme wet conditions hitting South and West Otago, Cr Byars encouraged any farmers with concerns around effluent storage to contact ORC.

“We’re aware there are some farms struggling to manage effluent storage with the requirement to not irrigate on saturated soils.

“If irrigation is required to stop ponds overflowing then it is important farmers document their decisions and any mitigations. The ORC team is available to discuss options and provide advice.”

Cr Byars said onsite staff would check a range of consented and permitted activities with a focus on the management of dairy effluent and how silage, farm rubbish and offal were being managed.

“We continue to be pleased with the good work our farmers do, and we want to continue to foster a good relationship by working together on this important environmental protection work.”

He said a particular focus this year would be on farms who were still working on their effluent storage and discharge consents.

Cr Byars encouraged those who had not had their consent issued yet, or were unsure of their consent requirements to contact ORC’s consents team.

“This is an education focused programme, but as with any activities, where needed appropriate compliance action is considered.

“We believe the programme has been run successfully for several years, with staff taking the chance to talk to farmers about a range of topics having good conversations about their on-farm activities.”

While onsite the Compliance Team will:

• Provide surety about how the rules apply to a particular farm.

• Assess compliance with the rules

• Document the compliance

• Explain what rules apply and when they have to be met.

• If the rules are not being met, the Compliance team can work with farmers about the steps that need to be taken and when it is reasonable to be compliant by.