Clean-up of waterways slow but steady, ministers find

Government ministers are praising dairy farmers' efforts to clean up waterways but official figures indicate progress is incremental rather than dramatic.

Under the 2003 Dairying and Clean Streams Accord between Fonterra, the Government and regional councils, five targets were set to help prevent farming operations polluting waterways in dairying areas.

The percentage of dairy farms with a plan to manage nutrients rose from just 17 per cent to 19 per cent, against a target of 100 per cent by next year. The report said: "In all regions, farmers showed a lack of information or knowledge about nutrient management planning and nutrient budgets."

Another accord target was for dairy effluent discharges to comply immediately with resource consents and regional plans.

The report said that last season there was wide regional variation on compliance, ranging from 97 per cent of inspected farms in Otago to just 9.4 per cent in Tasman.

But the report noted that regional data was not comparable because of differences in collecting data.

A statement from Agriculture Minister Jim Anderton and Environment Minister David Benson-Pope said the report showed dairy farmers were making significant progress in implementing practices to improve water quality.

But they acknowledged the slower progress on meeting the nutrient management plans target.

Steps to promote better nutrient management from Fonterra and dairy research organisation Dexcel include more training for farm advisory staff and technical information for farmers.