Anger, frustration, hopelessness, despair… all the emotions were vented at the recent Lake Taupo Protection Trust field day.The meeting was called to give farmers an update on the implementation of Nitrogen Discharge Allowance (NDA) policy in the catchment, a regional council planning change that aims to improve the failing water quality of the lake.

The new legislation, set to be contested by farmers in the Environment Court over the coming weeks, will essentially make farming Lake Taupo surrounds an activity that requires a resource consent.As the regulator, Environment Waikato (EW) will issue farmers with a consent that stipulates the maximum NDA, which in turn will determine the livestock carrying capacity of each property.It’s a complex issue, but the consequences are far-reaching, hence the impressive turn out. Farmers (from across Central North Island and further afield), various regional councils, city councillors, Federated Farmers president Charlie Pedersen and local feds representatives, scientists and members of the fertiliser fraternity, were on hand to witness the unfolding of what is an unprecedented approach to rural land-use regulation in New Zealand.

For farmers caught in the catchment the implications are enormous. Trust chairman John Kneebone made no attempt to downplay what he describes as ‘a radical intervention’ into landowners’ farming businesses.‘Any change to a more lake-friendly land use is likely to impact negatively on you farming profit… to reduce the intensity of your operations will also probably reduce your income.’

The NDA essentially equates to a cap on the profitability of the property – de-stock or don’t farm, it’s that simple. So while nitrogen leaches off their land, value seeps out of the property price.One understandably irate landowner claims to have had his farm on the market for eight months, with the highest offer not even one-third of its true market value.

Interest from outside the catchment area was evident at the meeting and hints at the prospect of other regional jurisdictions imposing similar constraints on farming.

EW has indicated to Rural News that central government and other key councils (including Environment Canterbury) are watching ‘very closely’ what is happening in the Taupo catchment.

Kneebone goes further, suggesting that while Taupo farmers are the first to be capped and limited to allowable nitrogen discharge, ‘I doubt they will be the last to become subject to enforcement to control pastoral farming pollutants.’

Study a map of the Taupo catchment and the scale of operations is insignificant compared with New Zealand farming as a whole. But the principles at stake are profound and will certainly have ramifications for the entire agriculture sector.