Mid Canterbury plays a “really important part” in New Zealand’s farming landscape, Minister Andrew Hoggard said.

Hoggard, the Minister for biosecurity and food safety, and Associate Minister for agriculture and environment, paid a two-day visit to the region to catch locals up on parliament's happenings.

He first talked with farmers at a Beef + Lamb event, answering questions about Resource Management Act (RMA) reform, disease prevention and the fluctuation of trade.

Plans for the RMA have been “met warmly, to date,” by rural communities, Hoggard said.

“Obviously there have been a few guarded reservations about a few things.

“The real conversation will happen once we have the draft legislation in place - people can see all the detail, that’s when we’ll know if we’ve got it right, or there’re are a few tweaks to make.”

He said legislation should be introduced to the house by October - “it all depends on how fast people can write,” - and will be open for public submissions when it gets to a select committee stage.

Hoggard also spoke on the pause and proposed reform for freshwater farm plans, which aimed to identify impacts farming might have on nearby waterways, and how to minimise them.

Industry leaders and landowners have felt the plans were rushed out and impractical, and did not consider the diversity of farms across the country when plan guidelines were set.

The reforms have been welcomed by Federated Farmers and DairyNZ, and Hoggard said a consultation period for those plans is not far away.

The second day of his Mid Canty tour took him to the opening of an irrigation pond with Ashburton Lyndhurst Irrigation Limited (ALIL), and to visit the Ashburton Luisetti Seeds packaging facility.

Luisetti Seeds managing director Edward Luisetti said it was good to have a man like Hoggard in government.

“He’s very down to earth, and obviously a farmer himself, so he understands farming issues.

“He has an appreciation for what farmers do and what they produce in New Zealand.

“It was great to be able to inform him on the arable industry; what we’ve been doing, and the challenges.”

One such challenge was the invasion of pest plant black-grass, which “could have been a real threat to Mid Canterbury,” Luisetti said.

“Biosecurity and preventing pest plants is of huge importance to the arable industry.”

Hoggard said Aotearoa’s good track record is valuable to our ag industry.

Hoggard said Aotearoa’s pest-resistance record gives us the “competitive advantage.”

“One of the benefits [New] Zealand has is we are free of so many diseases that other parts of the world are battling with.”

But as the climate warms and more bugs and snakes head our way, he said prevention planning will be a money-saver for the country.

“Mycoplasma bovis, if we’d discovered it a year earlier, there would have been a lot less of a cost than what it was.

“That time period between when something arrives and when it's discovered is critical.”

For Hoggard, trips around rural New Zealand are the “point of being a politician”.

“It’s to listen to people, to understand what their concerns are and what their issues are.

“We don’t have a monopoly on smart ideas in Wellington.”

He said Ashburton was the country’s arable hub, and a huge component of the dairy sector.

“It’s one of those provinces that is a really strong player in the agricultural space; that’s why towns like Ashburton have grown so well.

“You look at Ashburton, Timaru, and how these towns are vibrant, with low unemployment. Compare that to some North Island towns.

“It is a really important part of New Zealand agriculture.”

by Anisha Satya