30 Sep 2009

More farms complying with rules, says council

6:02 am on 30 September 2009

Manawatu-Wanganui regional council is finding an improved level of dairy farmer compliance with resource consent conditions in its area.

In its latest round of inspections, the council has checked about 70 dairy farms in the Wanganui, Northern Manawatu and Rangitikei districts and found five significantly non-complying.

The council's environmental protection manager, Alison Russell, says farmers are now more aware of the requirements of their resource consent conditions and are being much more proactive with their environmental management.

Problems last year with irrigators or pumps malfunctioning are nowhere near as widespread, she says, and the trial of a 'Warrant of Fitness' checklist is helping many farmers and staff to identify potential areas of concern.

All 450 dairy farms in the region will have been inspected at least once by the end of the 2009-10 financial year.