FEDERATED FARMERS HIGH COUNTRY CHAIRPERSON, GRAHAM REED

There has been a fair amount of talk since the conference in June, but at the time of writing we have very little to show for it. However, we are hopeful, confident even, that there will be at least one significant development within the next few weeks.

The good news is that our fear that we may be headed back to court on the pastoral lease rental issue looks unlikely to materialise. Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) has continued to negotiate with the principals of Minaret Station over the result of the Land Valuation Tribunal hearing. At a series of meetings held throughout the South Island in August LINZ officials advised that they have reached agreement in principle on a system which set rentals through a productivity based formula. They were hopeful that appropriate legislation would be drafted before the end of October with a view to having the law in place by March next year - check out the pastoral lease article under industry news below.

The executive of Federated Farmers High Country and the High Country Accord will continue to work closely together during the submission stage of the draft legislation.

At this stage it looks promising that any such legislation will be passed with little significant dissent. The Labour Party spokesman on land is reported to have expressed support for the principle of rents based on productive capacity. It was, he is reported to have said, what the Labour Government was seeking all along - I wonder if he drinks Tui!

In other matters progress is painfully slow, in fact I don't think "non existent" is an exaggeration. The waiting game continues with decisions still to be given on two pest-related matters in which Federated Farmers is involved both on a national basis and through the High Country Industry Group. These are the status of Canada Geese and Government support to control rabbits. Promising words on both fronts - but no delivery yet.

Getting anywhere with rabbit control has been a particularly disappointing exercise. In March last year we had meetings with three Ministers. During these meetings, and through subsequent correspondence, we were promised that Government would ensure that more resources were made available to Department of Conservation (DoC) and LINZ field staff to ensure they were able to act as good neighbours in the battle against rabbits. It was, therefore, of major concern to hear at successive meetings of the Rabbit Co-ordination Group (a group comprising of regional councils, DoC, LINZ and Federated Farmers) that there had been a cut back in DoC resources, and that LINZ was struggling to maintain its control programme.

Federated Farmers High Country has written to the Minister of Biosecurity asking for an urgent meeting to find out what happened with all the promises.

Waiting is the name of the game again, as we wait for a final decision from the Minister of Conservation. At the High Country conference earlier this year the Hon Kate Wilkinson did say she was considering allowing landholders to have the uninhibited right to shoot geese on their own properties. No further announcement has been made.

In the meantime, Federated Farmers is in constant communication with the Walking Access Commission over the Commission's proposed mapping system. The Commission is aware of possible shortcomings within the system but believes that in bringing these out into the open the discrepancies will be identified and sorted out more quickly than by working through the information before its release. Federated Farmers, spurred on by High Country farmers, believes that this method is simply asking for trouble.

Finally, returning to the subject of pests, if you have a wilding tree problem and are thinking of getting rid of some, be aware of your ETS responsibilities. The closing date to apply for exemptions is at the end of October, so please read the information below entitled Deadline for wilding tree clearance exemption nears.

Regards,

Graham Reed
Chairperson
Federated Farmers High Country
Phone:  03 315 8033
Email:  Grampians@scorch.co.nz

GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCES NEW PASTORAL LEASE RENT POLICY

On 3 August 2010 Government announced that a new system for setting rents for South Island High Country pastoral leases administered by the Crown had been approved by Cabinet.

The announcement was made by Agriculture Minister, the Hon David Carter, and Land Information Minister, the Hon Maurice Williamson, and the new policy reflects the current Government's strategic direction for Crown pastoral land, announced last year. This specified that rent should be charged based on the earning capacity of a property.

Mr Williamson says the new system for setting rents takes into account a number of factors, including the productive capacity of the lease and pastoral economic conditions. He commented that the way rents are currently calculated is complicated and costly and often produces disputes over both the process used and the result.

Agriculture Minister David Carter says the new system will provide greater certainty to farmers, going on to say that it is simpler to administer, more transparent and provides a fair rent. It will allow farmers to get on with the job of farming and looking after the high country rather than fighting bureaucracy.

Officials have worked closely with the High Country Accord, a representative group for Crown pastoral lessees, during the development of the new policy. There are 231 pastoral leases, mainly in Canterbury and Central Otago, which represent around 1.6 million hectares of pastoral land. Officials will begin drafting legislation to implement the policy, and the Government hopes to introduce a Bill into the House later this year. The public will have the chance to make submissions on the Bill during the Select Committee phase of the passage of legislation.

EXEMPLARY DAMAGES UNDER CROWN PASTORAL LAND ACT 1998

In June, the High Court awarded exemplary damages against a lessee who had breached the terms of its pastoral lease, but what are ‘exemplary damages'?

The case involved a company owned by John and Mary Lee. The company was the lessee under a pastoral lease of land in Cardrona Valley. Next door was a freehold property, Waiorau, owned by John and Mary Lee, on which they operated snow related businesses. John and Mary stared building a reservoir to provide water for use in snow making for the businesses on Waiorau, but work stopped after council advised that consent was required. It was also discovered that the earthworks were located entirely on the pastoral lease land rather than on Waiorau, as John and Mary had intended.

The Commissioner of Crown Lands also became involved, as the work amounted to a breach of the lease unless the Commissioner's prior written approval was given. The Crown Pastoral Land Act 1998 prohibits the soil of pastoral lease land being disturbed without the prior written consent of the Commissioner. This is because under a pastoral lease, the lessee only has a right to graze the land. Consent is required even if the activity, such as a proposed track or dam, is to be part of the pastoral activities carried out by the lessee.

As it was not practical to reinstate the land because of the scale of the excavation, the Commissioner agreed to a partial out of court settlement which allowed the reservoir to be completed to agreed standards, but the lessee had to pay a large amount of costs to the Commissioner and additional rent.

The Commissioner also asked the Court to order the lessee to pay exemplary damages.  Under section 19(2) (b) of the Act, a lessee under a pastoral lease who has breached the terms of the lease may have to pay ‘exemplary damages', not exceeding $50,000.

Under the general law, exemplary damages are given when someone has acted outrageously or recklessly. The Lees argued that they had not acted outrageously or recklessly, so exemplary damages should not be given.

The Court decided that the normal requirement for outrageous conduct or recklessness was not required under section 19 of the Act. Rather, all that is required is to show there has been a breach of lease - there is no need to go further and prove that there has been outrageous or reckless behaviour.

However, the Court still has an ability not to award exemplary damages.

In deciding whether or not to award exemplary damages, and what amount, the Court will look at all the circumstances, including the nature and extent of the breach, as well the lessee's conduct and intentions.

In this case, the quantity of earth which was moved and the lessee's ‘cavalier attitude' meant that the breach was serious. The lessee did not try to locate the boundaries before starting work. Also, if the lessee had asked the Commissioner for approval, it was unlikely to have been granted. Lastly, the construction of the reservoir had nothing to do with pastoral purposes.

On the other hand, the breach was not deliberate and the actual area of land involved was small, and was not an area of significant environmental value. The lessee had also suffered other financial penalties e.g. payment of a substantial amount of costs.

The maximum award under the Act is $50,000 which is much higher than the $10,000 - $15,000 threshold previously set by the Courts for exemplary damages. After considering the above factors, the Court set the exemplary damages at $25,000.

For more information, please contact:

Mike Toepfer
Partner
Wanaka Office AWS Legal
Phone: 03 443 0913
Mobile: 027 229 1132

FINAL OPPORTUNITY - DO YOU NEED AN EXEMPTION?

The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry has asked us to pass on the following information.

Landowners clearing wilding trees established before 1990 have a few weeks left to apply for an exemption to the deforestation rules under the ETS. The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry is accepting applications for an exemption from the ETS rules where landowners are clearing weed trees. The deadline for applications is 31 October 2010. MAF senior programmes adviser, Ian Platt, says tree weeds are species defined as pests under a local pest management strategy or in the Climate Change Response Act, for instance Pinus contorta. 

The tree weed exemption applies to clearance from 2008 to 2012. To need an exemption, the trees in the area in question must have been established before 1990. The forest area must be more than two hectares, and must meet the definition of forest land in the ETS.

Mr Platt says the exemption stays on the land, regardless of change of ownership and clearance can mean any activity that kills the tree, including felling, spraying, harvesting, burning or destruction by a natural cause. A 100 percent kill rate may not be always achieved as tree weeds can be difficult to eradicate.

Landowners who think they will need an exemption should get in touch with:

Ian Platt
Senior Programmes Adviser
Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry
Phone: 03 943 3707
Email: ian.platt@maf.govt.nz.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION: PRE-1990 FORESTRY AND TREE WEEDS

Pre-1990 forest - Pre-1990 forest is land that was in forest on 31 December 1989 and was in predominantly exotic forest on 31 December 2007. ‘Forest' means the land is in tree species capable of reaching 5m in height and more than 30 percent canopy cover. Native forest established before 1990 is not pre-1990 forest for the purposes of the Emissions Trading Scheme. Pre-1990 forest is what New Zealand's Kyoto Protocol baselines are based on, so any deforestation needs to be accounted for by landowners, by surrendering carbon credits.

Deforestation - ‘Deforestation' means a change of land use - for example converting forest to farmland. Harvesting is not deforestation, so long as tree species are replanted or allowed to regenerate.

Tree weeds - Tree weeds are trees with a tendency for ‘spreading vigour' - typically wilding conifers. Tree weeds will be listed on a local pest management strategy or under the Climate Change Response Act.  A full list of tree weeds is in MAF's Guide to tree weed exemptions.

Tree weed exemption - The tree weed exemption recognises that some pre-1990 forest land is undesirable, and for ecological reasons should be removed. The government has set aside a certain amount of carbon credits which it will surrender on behalf of landowners who generate carbon emissions by clearing tree weeds. Applications are open for deforestation of tree weed forest from 1 January 2008 to 31 December 2012 (Commitment Period 1 under the Kyoto Protocol). This includes clearance that has already occurred. Applications are rated on a number of criteria which establish the tree weed status of the land in question, and will help prioritise applications in the event there are more applications than carbon credits available.

More background information - More detail is available in the Guide to pre-1990 allocation and exemptions, found by clicking here, and the Guide to tree weed exemptions, which can be found by clicking here.

STEP UP PROGRAMME

Over the last year Federated Farmers North Canterbury has rolled out a shoulder tapping exercise for farmers between about 20 - 45 years of age who are recognised in their community as having leadership skills. The idea is to invite these people to join the ‘Step Up' programme and offer them special opportunities like networking, meetings with influential people and offering support to apply for scholarships and/or access special purpose funds.

The success of the project so far has prompted Federated Farmers High Country to participate and on Friday, 29 October some 20 high country farmers from the North and Mid Canterbury areas will be meeting with the Hon. Kate Wilkinson, Minister of Conservation. Should this pilot exercise prove to be a success, Federated Farmers High Country intends to repeat the exercise in other provinces.

HIGH COUNTRY CONFERENCE 2011

Next year's High Country conference has been set for Friday 10 and Saturday 11 June at the Chateau on the Park, Christchurch. More information will be distributed as we make more plans.

GROW YOUR KNOWLEDGE AND ADVANCE YOUR AGRIBUSINESS CAREER

You can grow your knowledge and advance your career with Agriculture ITO's National Diploma in Agribusiness Management (Level 5). For those in or aiming for a position in agribusiness management or ownership, this high level qualification recognises the skills and knowledge required to effectively manage agribusiness resources, to develop business and financial plans and analyse performance and investment opportunities. To enrol, or find out more, contact your local Agriculture ITO training advisor on 0800 691 111 or visit www.agricultureito.ac.nz.

EMPLOYMENT WORKSHOPS

Federated Farmers will be holding its highly popular employment workshops throughout October and November 2010 and then again in February and March, 2011. The major topics covered will include the 90-day trial period, discipline and dismissal, ACC claims, best practice, holidays and leave. The cost per workshop is $35 for members and $60 for non-members. The first workshops are being held on Tuesday, 26 October in Wellsford and Dargaville, then on Wednesday, 27 October in Hikurangi and Kerikeri and in Kaitaia, on Thursday, 28 October. The second week of workshops will be held in the South Island on Monday, 1 November in Amberley and Cheviot, Tuesday, 2 November in Kaikoura and Blenheim, Wednesday, 3 November in Tapawera and Takaka, and then on Thursday, 4 November in Reefton and Moana and in Hari Hari on Friday, 5 November. For more information on attending a workshop and to find out workshop dates and venues, please click here, call 0800 327 646 or email events@fedfarm.org.nz.

INTERESTED IN LIFTING YOUR RESOURCE MANAGEMENT SKILLS?

Open Polytechnic's National Certificate in Agribusiness Management: Resource Management, is for people managing resources in an agribusiness. For more information, click here or call 0508 650 200. Remember, Federated Farmers members get a 20 percent discount. Click here to download an enrolment form.

WIN A $5000 DREAM HOLIDAY

Escape the wet spring this year wit ruraltrader.co.nz. Along with 1-day.co.nz and Flight Centre, they are giving away $5000 worth of holiday vouchers in October and best of all, entry is totally free. Simply visit the competition page on ruraltrader.co.nz or by clicking here.

TIME IS RUNNING OUT

Get your quote for health insurance and take advantage of the great 90-day offer Accuro Health Insurance is offering only to Federated Farmers members. Accuro is also offering members a minimum 5 percent discount (expiring on 30 November 2010).  For a quote, click here and log into the member only section or call 0800 222 876.

TREAT YOURSELF WITH WINESONLINE

For an ever changing selection of award winning wines, check out www.winesonline.co.nz.

More member benefits and offers

To view special discounts exclusive to Federated Farmers members, please call 0800 327 646 or click here to log onto our members only area.

Tussock Talk is an electronic newsletter distributed to all Federated Farmers members who list High Country as an interest on their membership and who have supplied us with their e-mail address. If you have received a hard copy it will be because we do not have your e-mail address. Please let us know if you would like this newsletter delivered electronically, and to check all your details are up-to-date on our database, please call 0800 327 646.

If you have any questions or comments about matters in this newsletter, or anything else relating to the High Country industry, please contact the High Country executive or committee by clicking here. Alternatively, you can contact industry manager, Bob Douglas, by clicking here or by calling 0800 327 646.