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North  farmers want to help boost the economy but say the red tape needs to go.

Associate Agriculture Minister Nicola Grigg and Waimakariri MP Matt Doocey listened to ’ concerns at a woolshed meeting at Cust, near Oxford, on Friday, April 4.

The farmers raised a number of concerns, including the  (RMA) reform, methane emissions, freshwater farm plans, and tariffs.

Grigg said the  reinforced the need to diversify trade markets.

Resource management reform would allow farmers to maximise those opportunities, she said.

“If we don’t get the settings right at home and farmers aren’t productive, then there is no point securing these trade arrangements.”

New Zealand was in a strong position compared to other countries to get through the economic uncertainty posed by the tariffs, the Minister said.

Grigg also acknowledged that farmers were “burdened” by paperwork.

“We have paused the freshwater farm plans, but we haven’t looked at what farm environment plans will look like yet, but we are working through this.

“But we are aware that you are spending 30% of your time on paperwork, and you don’t need to be doing that.

“You’re having to fill out the same forms whether it is Beef and Lamb, DairyNZ or ECan ().

“We need one point of entry.”

Grigg said the  sector is strong, while the  is improving, but  was “being hamstrung” by the RMA with the “ongoing need for consent renewals”.

The Government had followed Labour’s lead in splitting the RMA reform into two separate pieces of legislation to “strike the balance between food production and growth”, she said

“We need to free up land for housing, so the reform will allow for development of class three land, but you can also apply for a special exemption to protect highly productive land.”

The National Policy Statement on highly productive land has three classes based on soil types, but Grigg said the criteria should be based on whether the land was productive rather than soil type.

The Government has announced it will introduce two pieces of legislation to replace the RMA later this year, one focused on housing and the other focused on environmental protection and managing environmental effects.

Several farmers questioned why New Zealand had committed to the Paris Accord and its requirements around methane emissions, but Grigg said the Government remained committed to addressing climate change.

“We are not going to pull New Zealand out of the Paris Accord because we would lose our trade deals with the UK [United Kingdom] and the EU [European Union].

“Do you think they will miss our product from the supermarket shelves?

“But we are not going to drive agriculture out of business to meet those targets.”

Grigg said farmers were already close to meeting the 10% reduction target on methane emissions.

“We will hit those targets by just being good farmers.”

Responding to a question about ECan’sNgāi Tahu councillors, Grigg said the legislation could only be repealed by another local bill from ECan.

The Minister reminded the farmers that local government elections are happening in October.

- LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.