City Council cows tread murky waters
Released 07 Nov 2011
James Houghton is Federated Farmers Waikato provincial president
Hamilton City Council has found out the hard way that, unless there are secure fences in place, cows always find a way to water.
While the council has recently decided to spend $8500 on building a fence between the cattle and the river, as I understand it, the offending cows have been wandering into the river for at least a year triggering at least three complaints from neighbours.
The council initially tried to save money by asking the farmer who leased the land to manage his cows better. Obviously, they had not reckoned on the unreasonable nature of cattle when it comes to water.
What concerns me is the council seems to have applied a different set of rules to its own land than what would apply to a private landowning farmer. Ordinarily, farmers allowing stock to get into the Waikato would be told to sort the situation out, asap.
Federated Farmers supports having one rule for all. If farmers are supposed to keep stock out of the Waikato River, as a good landowner, Hamilton City Council should lead the way. They are, after all, in the heart of dairy country.
On the issue of wayward cows, I have heard of a couple of instances around the country of farmers losing stock. No, they didn't die and weren't stolen. They were claimed by a receiver when the grazier's company was placed in receivership.
This raises an important message to all farmers who regularly lease out or even graze their stock elsewhere.
You need to register your interest with the Ministry of Economic Development's Personal Property Securities Register within 10 working days of the start of a lease.
This is because when the leasee owes money to banks or lending institutions, these entities may have a higher priority claim on your cows than you do. Unless the lease is less than a year long and you don't regularly lease stock, they are legally allowed to take your cows to discharge their own security. They can even do this if the stock was recently removed before a receivership was in place.
It might seem unfair, but you can insure your rights in a few steps. If the lease is likely to, or does, go on for more than a year and you regularly lease stock out, you must register your interest in your livestock within the 10 working days. It might seem a hassle, but it is better than losing the stock outright.
It's wise to register your interest even if you don't regularly lease or graze stock out, or you think it's for less than a year. That way, when the receiver checks the registration of any property involved they can confirm they are unable to dispose of it to meet the entity's debts.
It pays also to check the lessee's financial position. If the cows are not going to be on the leasee's property, ensure you have written agreement from the property owner to go on their land to retrieve your stock if things turn bad.
However, it would certainly be much easier in these situations if there was a clause in the stock owner's contract that the lessee had to keep owners informed of their stock's location.
If you have cows leased out and are concerned, seek competent legal advice immediately. Federated Farmers members have access to free legal advice at 0800 FARMING.
Now turning to wayward politicians. National MP and Minister for the Environment, Nick Smith made a comment at a farmers meeting in Te Aroha last month that he would be happy for up to 10 percent of private property to be designated Significant Natural Areas (SNA).
I ask how Dr Smith would appreciate it if up to 15 percent of his income was declared an SNA, which in this instance it might stand for Silly Non-agricultural Arguments or Senseless Nuisance Advice.
We could ring-fence and hand that 15 percent over to the people of New Zealand. In fact we could do it for all politicians. I'm sure we would all think this was great, except Dr Smith and his fellow MPs, who might feel they work hard for that money and it should not be taken off them arbitrarily.
That is exactly what labelling 10 percent of New Zealand as SNA's would do to farmers who work hard to gain an income for their families and the country from the land. This is an invasion of private rights which would cost New Zealand dearly.
