Banning the use of manure another example of green-tape mentality

The Victorian Government’s proposal to label manure as industrial waste stinks, argues Peter Walsh.

Dumped: Spreading cow manure on the paddocks and then allowing them to be grazed will be banned by the Environment Protection Authority under changes proposed by the Victorian Government.

ON a farm, nothing goes to waste.

There’s value in everything, including the waste itself.

But Victorian farmers are on track to be weighed down in more green tape under changes proposed by the Environment Protection Authority.

The changes, which will come into effect on July 1, force farmers to comply with further regulation on the way they use, store and transport animal waste.

It will also put a ban on livestock grazing paddocks that have had ­manure spread on them, by stopping the current practice of resting the paddock and returning stock to it three weeks later.

For as long as people have been farming, we’ve used sheep, cow, pig and chicken manure as a valuable by-product packed with nutrients that boost the health and productivity of soil.

It’s an excellent source of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium and is used by farmers to improve crops, particularly those who farm using regenerative and biodynamic principles.

As one dairy farmer described it last week: “it’s fertiliser we’ve already paid for”.

“It’s a valuable resource – not a waste product,” he said. “But if you can’t use it on farm, what can you do with it? Who’s going to take it?”

It’s a question that was front of mind for all the farmers I spoke to last week.

But it’s one question the inner-city bureaucrats who wrote the changes haven’t got an answer for.

Neither the Andrews Government nor the EPA has been able to provide the evidence behind the proposal or a demonstrated risk that has forced the need for change.

The Liberal Nationals are currently working on options to reverse any changes that come into effect under the EPA’s proposal, which will make life harder for our agriculture sector.

This could include submitting a disallowance motion to the Victorian Parliament which, according to the rules, can only be done after the regulations are printed in the Government Gazette.

Regulation for regulation’s sake has become a common theme for the Andrews Labor Government, especially when it comes to agriculture.

Daniel Andrews is obsessed with burying our farmers in unnecessary red and green tape.

It’s what happens under a Government that misunderstands what it is to be a regional Victorian.

Slapping our farmers with onerous paperwork and forcing them to treat a valuable by-product as industrial waste is bureaucracy gone mad.

Daniel Andrews should bin this unnecessary regulation and let our farmers focus on doing what they do best — producing the food and fibre that fills Victorians’ tables and underpins our nation’s economy.

● Peter Walsh is the leader of the Victorian Nationals

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