Some Southland Farmers Ordered To Immediately Stop Winter Grazing

Some Southland farmers ordered to immediately stop winter grazing are “stressed” and “don’t know what to do,”. Environment Southland issued abatement notices to several farmers after it deemed rules were being broken. The notices told farmers to “cease and desist” winter grazing immediately. Environment Southland resource management manager Donna Ferguson says this season five abatement notices and one infringement have been issued for breaches of winter grazing rules. In June an aerial compliance inspection of winter grazing found 21 potential sites of interest. Sites raised red flags because they appeared to be on critical source areas, or broke slope rules. Fed Farmers winter grazing spokesperson Jason Herrick says Government regulations are poor and turn good citizens into criminals, but regional councils are bound by a law and have to do what they’re doing. He says none of the farmers were contacted by the council to carry out farm visits after the June flyover receiving abatement notices in the mail with no warning.