Otago Regional Council offers some leniency on first reporting of nitrogen fertilisers

Photo / 123RF

RNZ

Dairy farmers are being reminded they have until the end of next month to report their use of synthetic nitrogen fertiliser.

New rules came into effect in July last year, known as N-cap, where annual usage of synthetic nitrogen must not exceed 190 kilograms per hectare, averaged across farmers' grazed land areas.

Farmers have to report how much they used this past year by the end of next month and can do so to their regional council or through their fertiliser company.

The Ministry for the Environment guidelines describe synthetic nitrogen fertiliser as any solid or liquid substance which is more than 5 per cent nitrogen by dry weight and applied to land as a source of nitrogen nutrition for plants.

Examples include manufactured urea, diammonium phosphate and sulphate of ammonia.

Otago Regional Council regulatory and communications general manager Richard Saunders said it was important farmers knew what they needed to report.

"So the types of things that need to be provided, obviously the total area of land and pasture or other pastoral land use; the type of nitrogen synthetic nitrogen fertiliser and the rate that it's applied and the dates that it was applied."

Saunders said the council was aware of all the new regulations farmers were facing so the council will take an educational approach for this first year of nitrogen reporting.

"As with any new rule that comes in it will take some people time to adjust and time to ensure that they have the right level of information for submission.

"So we will be very much taking an educational approach to those that don't provide that information on time initially.

"And one of our staff will make contact and just work through with the farmer whether they have the information and if they don't quite have the right information, you know, what might be needed."

If farmers have any questions about filing their information they should get in touch with their regional council or fertiliser company, he said.

- RNZ