September 11, 2025 • 8 mins
Jason Herrick wants invoices around winter grazing to be scaled back as he calls them "unfair."
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
Jason Herrick as president of south and Federated Farmers and
joins us this afternoon. Good afternoon, Jason.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Good afternoon, Andy. Yeah, it's a bit of a different
weather ped in today, isn't that.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
It's like a pickup mix of chocolate. Really raining one minute,
then sunshine and cloud, then rain again and rinse and
repeat with a bit of wind thrown in the mix.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Oh it's spring though, isn't it. So you just got
to expect.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
It pretty much, that's just what it is. So yeah,
we're talking about the spring and a weaver. But just
at the moment we're going to start off of this
Federated Farmers showing concern around winter greasing invoices involving environments Southland.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Yeah, so I've had a string of phone calls from
farmers upset that they're receiving invoices in the mail regarding
cross recovery for investigations on farm that were pointed out
by the flyovers in early June, and so investigators went
(01:09):
out to the farm as their farms were identified as
as breaking some of the winter grazing rules. So yeah,
I just want to make that clear that they were
pointed out or notified that they were in breach of
a rule. But then upon the discussion with the compliance
staff with Environment Southland, it's more of a misunderstanding and
(01:32):
a miscommunication around the rules because the rules have been
changing and the definition of the rules have been changing
so much in the last three to four years that
everybody's a wee bit lost. So you know, when the
compliance officers left the farm and a lot of a
lot of situations, they thought everything was good, rosy and
there weren't any any more issues, and then a month
(01:53):
and a half later they were receiving accounts in the
mail for cost recovery of eighteen hundred to four thousand dollars.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
Is a flyover of your farm? Does that come down on?
Is that the responsibility to the farmer to pay that?
Speaker 2 (02:05):
So no, the flyover itself is in your covered and
your rates that you pay. But if the fly ever
determines that there is a breach in rules on your
property and investigators come out and they have found that
you are in breach of a rule, then you are
(02:27):
liable for cost recovery. Apparently through legislation, but upon doing
a bit of ringing around and talking to a few
other regions, Environments Southland are the only ones doing this
cost recovery invoicing, and I have spoken to a couple
of counselors and they have said to me that it's
only because our water and land plan is a lot
(02:49):
more intense than the rest of the country, so that's
the only reason that they're doing it. It's still doesn't
make any acceptable excuses because at the end of the day,
to me, it's just revenue gathering in south and they look.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
I spoke to a couple of farmers this week and
they've been a bit more pragmatic about the situation Jace
talking about winter grazing plans and regulations, how they're changing.
You know, an ideal world, this kind of thing wouldn't occur.
But is this more about a communication thing more than anything.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
I think it's about the perception of the staff member
at the time. And you know, there's some really good
stuff involved in Environment South and there's no two ways
about it, but I don't think all the staff are
on the same page. I know one particular farmer who's
had Environments South And on the farm for the last
three years, and last year they thought they had everything sorted,
all the advice was good and they followed the advice,
and then a different compliance officer on farm this year
(03:39):
and then there's an issue and they got in voice
for a cost recovery, you know. So it's it's just
a perception of the of the officer at the time.
You know, we've got compliance officers out there telling us
that critical source areas are any sort of undulation in
a paddock or a pond in a paddock and in
a heavy rain event, if it ends up in a
waterways class is a critical sauce area. Well, in my opinion,
(04:01):
that's all of Southland. You know, you've got to be
a wee bit practical and use a bit of common
sense on this that if there's a decent amount of
land or pasture between that paddock and the waterway, said them,
it is going to drop out well before then, you know,
So I got to use your head in a little
bit of the situation. And there's a lot of great
area around that critical sauce area rule. And a lot
(04:22):
of the issues that have been raised this year is
around miscommunication. So we did point out to Environment Southland
at the start of this year that their colms could
have been a whole lot better when the decision come
out of the Environment Court last year on the buffer rule,
because last year the buffer rule was five meters inside
a paddock, right, and so everybody planted their crops out,
planned all their crops on that five meter buffer rule,
(04:43):
and then then the Environment Court changed it's ten meter
buffer from the edge of the waterway. Now on the
current setback rule under the Water and Land Planet, five
meters setback from the edge of the waterway for your
fence and then is a further five meters in the paddock.
So that's where it lies, the ten meat a buffer rule.
But we're farmers have been caught out if you were
(05:04):
under the old setback rule before the Winter and Land
Plan was made live, it was three meters from the
edge of the waterway. So then now if you're five
meters inside the paddic three meter set back your two
meters shorter the ten meta buffer under the rule come
out of the Environment Court. So a little bit of
common sense around of this would have been and would
have been called for, and compliance officers should have used
(05:24):
an educational approach rather than throwing a bill at farmers.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
To be honest, well, it sounds as though Federated Farmers
has been involved in the process since twenty sixteen regatting
the three meter rule, and they're saying that you have
been involved with the dialogue around this.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
Yeah, we may have been involved in the dialogue around it,
but we might I can tell you now we didn't
agree with a whole lot of it, because we've just
got to swallow what's landed. At the end of the day,
you know, we were in there arguing against the ten
meta buffer. Why would we go with that ten meter buffer?
You know if we didn't, if we weren't in there
at the end of the day, we would ended up
with a twenty five meter buffer, you know. So they
(06:00):
can claim that we're a part of the process, doesn't
mean to say we agreed with it.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
Dr Mike Joy his choice of words wasn't the best
with his comment the other day. Has there been much
reaction to this since.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
Oh, doctor Mike Joy, he's a different different kettle office, really,
isn't he. He's got his own opinion. At the end
of the day, I think the university let us down
in regard to It's unacceptable, especially in the last twenty
four hours that you know, wishing that anybody should be
hung like seriously that those were very poor choice of words.
(06:37):
It's unacceptable at the end of the day, and his
apology didn't really seem sincere. He was forced to do that,
in my opinion, and anybody in his position should not be,
you know, bringing ill health to anybody, regardless of what
their opinion is.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
Has anybody from Fed's been in touch with doctor Joy
to get his unders, to get his side of the
story on.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
This, I'm not sure from a national point of view.
I mean, we haven't from Southland at all, but I'm
not sure. I haven't spoken to our policy team or
our national team up in Wellington, but they've definitely made
a lot of noise about it, so yeah, I can
only comment from what I know.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
Just finally, Jason, we'll talk about the season. We've got
Phil Duncan from We're to watch on the show shortly,
but September is just being September unfortunately. What message have
you got for Farmers on the message?
Speaker 2 (07:31):
You know, I'm receiving a few comments like it's got
a lot of memories from bringing back memories from last year.
At the end of the day, is not as bad
as last year, but I can see why people are
thinking that. You know, we're getting constant rain and wet
events at the moment, but it is just spring. Just
remember that the sun will come out again and it
(07:53):
will come good like it did last year. Just make
sure you get this wrapper, our support. Call in on
your community, go to your community events, go and talk,
get off farm, do what you need to do to
look after the top two inches. That's all there is
to it. And don't isolate yourself and hunker down because
you're not the only one. We can all do this together.
(08:14):
If we bunk it down, I'll hunt it down and
you get through it all together. So yep, springs just spring,
and then like I said, the sun will come out
another day.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
Jason Herrick, always appreciate your time.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
You're welcome and you have a good afternoon.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
Jason Hererick, President of Self and Federated Farmers. This is
the master up next to way to Riversdale. Andrew Cochrane
Familiar Speeds
Jason Herrick as president of south and Federated Farmers and
joins us this afternoon. Good afternoon, Jason.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Good afternoon, Andy. Yeah, it's a bit of a different
weather ped in today, isn't that.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
It's like a pickup mix of chocolate. Really raining one minute,
then sunshine and cloud, then rain again and rinse and
repeat with a bit of wind thrown in the mix.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Oh it's spring though, isn't it. So you just got
to expect.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
It pretty much, that's just what it is. So yeah,
we're talking about the spring and a weaver. But just
at the moment we're going to start off of this
Federated Farmers showing concern around winter greasing invoices involving environments Southland.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Yeah, so I've had a string of phone calls from
farmers upset that they're receiving invoices in the mail regarding
cross recovery for investigations on farm that were pointed out
by the flyovers in early June, and so investigators went
(01:09):
out to the farm as their farms were identified as
as breaking some of the winter grazing rules. So yeah,
I just want to make that clear that they were
pointed out or notified that they were in breach of
a rule. But then upon the discussion with the compliance
staff with Environment Southland, it's more of a misunderstanding and
(01:32):
a miscommunication around the rules because the rules have been
changing and the definition of the rules have been changing
so much in the last three to four years that
everybody's a wee bit lost. So you know, when the
compliance officers left the farm and a lot of a
lot of situations, they thought everything was good, rosy and
there weren't any any more issues, and then a month
(01:53):
and a half later they were receiving accounts in the
mail for cost recovery of eighteen hundred to four thousand dollars.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
Is a flyover of your farm? Does that come down on?
Is that the responsibility to the farmer to pay that?
Speaker 2 (02:05):
So no, the flyover itself is in your covered and
your rates that you pay. But if the fly ever
determines that there is a breach in rules on your
property and investigators come out and they have found that
you are in breach of a rule, then you are
(02:27):
liable for cost recovery. Apparently through legislation, but upon doing
a bit of ringing around and talking to a few
other regions, Environments Southland are the only ones doing this
cost recovery invoicing, and I have spoken to a couple
of counselors and they have said to me that it's
only because our water and land plan is a lot
(02:49):
more intense than the rest of the country, so that's
the only reason that they're doing it. It's still doesn't
make any acceptable excuses because at the end of the day,
to me, it's just revenue gathering in south and they look.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
I spoke to a couple of farmers this week and
they've been a bit more pragmatic about the situation Jace
talking about winter grazing plans and regulations, how they're changing.
You know, an ideal world, this kind of thing wouldn't occur.
But is this more about a communication thing more than anything.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
I think it's about the perception of the staff member
at the time. And you know, there's some really good
stuff involved in Environment South and there's no two ways
about it, but I don't think all the staff are
on the same page. I know one particular farmer who's
had Environments South And on the farm for the last
three years, and last year they thought they had everything sorted,
all the advice was good and they followed the advice,
and then a different compliance officer on farm this year
(03:39):
and then there's an issue and they got in voice
for a cost recovery, you know. So it's it's just
a perception of the of the officer at the time.
You know, we've got compliance officers out there telling us
that critical source areas are any sort of undulation in
a paddock or a pond in a paddock and in
a heavy rain event, if it ends up in a
waterways class is a critical sauce area. Well, in my opinion,
(04:01):
that's all of Southland. You know, you've got to be
a wee bit practical and use a bit of common
sense on this that if there's a decent amount of
land or pasture between that paddock and the waterway, said them,
it is going to drop out well before then, you know,
So I got to use your head in a little
bit of the situation. And there's a lot of great
area around that critical sauce area rule. And a lot
(04:22):
of the issues that have been raised this year is
around miscommunication. So we did point out to Environment Southland
at the start of this year that their colms could
have been a whole lot better when the decision come
out of the Environment Court last year on the buffer rule,
because last year the buffer rule was five meters inside
a paddock, right, and so everybody planted their crops out,
planned all their crops on that five meter buffer rule,
(04:43):
and then then the Environment Court changed it's ten meter
buffer from the edge of the waterway. Now on the
current setback rule under the Water and Land Planet, five
meters setback from the edge of the waterway for your
fence and then is a further five meters in the paddock.
So that's where it lies, the ten meat a buffer rule.
But we're farmers have been caught out if you were
(05:04):
under the old setback rule before the Winter and Land
Plan was made live, it was three meters from the
edge of the waterway. So then now if you're five
meters inside the paddic three meter set back your two
meters shorter the ten meta buffer under the rule come
out of the Environment Court. So a little bit of
common sense around of this would have been and would
have been called for, and compliance officers should have used
(05:24):
an educational approach rather than throwing a bill at farmers.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
To be honest, well, it sounds as though Federated Farmers
has been involved in the process since twenty sixteen regatting
the three meter rule, and they're saying that you have
been involved with the dialogue around this.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
Yeah, we may have been involved in the dialogue around it,
but we might I can tell you now we didn't
agree with a whole lot of it, because we've just
got to swallow what's landed. At the end of the day,
you know, we were in there arguing against the ten
meta buffer. Why would we go with that ten meter buffer?
You know if we didn't, if we weren't in there
at the end of the day, we would ended up
with a twenty five meter buffer, you know. So they
(06:00):
can claim that we're a part of the process, doesn't
mean to say we agreed with it.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
Dr Mike Joy his choice of words wasn't the best
with his comment the other day. Has there been much
reaction to this since.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
Oh, doctor Mike Joy, he's a different different kettle office, really,
isn't he. He's got his own opinion. At the end
of the day, I think the university let us down
in regard to It's unacceptable, especially in the last twenty
four hours that you know, wishing that anybody should be
hung like seriously that those were very poor choice of words.
(06:37):
It's unacceptable at the end of the day, and his
apology didn't really seem sincere. He was forced to do that,
in my opinion, and anybody in his position should not be,
you know, bringing ill health to anybody, regardless of what
their opinion is.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
Has anybody from Fed's been in touch with doctor Joy
to get his unders, to get his side of the
story on.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
This, I'm not sure from a national point of view.
I mean, we haven't from Southland at all, but I'm
not sure. I haven't spoken to our policy team or
our national team up in Wellington, but they've definitely made
a lot of noise about it, so yeah, I can
only comment from what I know.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
Just finally, Jason, we'll talk about the season. We've got
Phil Duncan from We're to watch on the show shortly,
but September is just being September unfortunately. What message have
you got for Farmers on the message?
Speaker 2 (07:31):
You know, I'm receiving a few comments like it's got
a lot of memories from bringing back memories from last year.
At the end of the day, is not as bad
as last year, but I can see why people are
thinking that. You know, we're getting constant rain and wet
events at the moment, but it is just spring. Just
remember that the sun will come out again and it
(07:53):
will come good like it did last year. Just make
sure you get this wrapper, our support. Call in on
your community, go to your community events, go and talk,
get off farm, do what you need to do to
look after the top two inches. That's all there is
to it. And don't isolate yourself and hunker down because
you're not the only one. We can all do this together.
(08:14):
If we bunk it down, I'll hunt it down and
you get through it all together. So yep, springs just spring,
and then like I said, the sun will come out
another day.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
Jason Herrick, always appreciate your time.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
You're welcome and you have a good afternoon.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
Jason Hererick, President of Self and Federated Farmers. This is
the master up next to way to Riversdale. Andrew Cochrane
Familiar Speeds
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