Over the fence

Mycoplasma bovis and land transactions

Mycoplasma bovis (M. bovis) continues to be a real concern for the farming industry in New Zealand.

If you are thinking of entering into legal arrangements for the sale and purchase of rural land, it’s important that you consider including specific provisions that address M. bovis. There will be the possibility that livestock on the subject property may test positive for M. bovis between the date of the signed agreement for sale and purchase and the date for settlement.

There are a number of issues that should be addressed. One major issue is whether settlement should still take place as initially intended, as well as what arrangements should be made for livestock grazing, should the property be required to be free of all livestock for 60 days.

Please do be in touch to discuss these issues before entering into any contractual arrangements for the sale and purchase of rural land.

NAIT consultation underway

In October, the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) launched regulatory consultation in order to hear from anyone who has an interest in NAIT.

Have your say on ways to tighten rules around handling untagged animals, improve the use of data and align penalties with other legislation for non-compliance with NAIT. For more details on the consultation, please click here.

Dairy transactions and Fonterra

If you are thinking about selling your dairy farm and you are a Fonterra supplier, we remind you of the requirement to notify Fonterra and file a cessation of supply by 28 February 2019.

Fonterra may charge a penalty to a vendor supplier if they do not file a cessation of supply by 28 February – if the purchaser does not continue to supply Fonterra. If you supply milk to Fonterra under a Fonterra supply contract or winter milk contract you also need to be mindful of your obligations in respect of these arrangements.

Consideration should also be given to whether the farm is compliant with milk cooling obligations, farm dairy and environmental assessments, and tanker access assessments.

Please be in touch to discuss these, and other relevant matters, before entering into any contractual arrangements for the sale or purchase of dairy farms (and other rural properties!).

Forest Practice Guides launched

The Forest Owners Association has launched a series of 28 Forest Practice Guides which contain a set of nationally-applied rules and conditions for plantation forestry. A joint venture between the forestry sector and the MPI, the guides were initiated as part of the implementation of the National Environmental Standards for Plantation Forestry which came into force on 1 May 2018.

The guides are not statutory documents, however, so care must be taken. For more details on the Forest Practice Guides, click here.

Dairy Industry Awards

Entries for the New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards have now closed. We wish all entrants the very best with their preparation and judging in the New Year.

Oops

In the Spring edition (No 27) of Rural eSpeaking we published a very well-received article – ‘Private land with public access: how is access granted?’

However, the fourth paragraph under the sub-heading ‘Recent example at Lake Hawea’ should have read:

“Therefore, under the legislation, in terms of improving public access, the only ‘public benefit’ factor that is taken into account is walking access, presumably by way of an agreement reached under the Walking Access Act 2008. That Act established the New Zealand Walking Access Commission. The purpose of that Act is to ‘to provide the New Zealand public with free, certain, enduring and practical walking [our underline] access to the outdoors …”

As well, since we published the Spring edition, it has been reported that in the Hunter Valley Station situation, the landowner has signed an agreement with the Department of Conservation granting more public access.

If you would like to talk further with us on any of the topics covered, please contact us.