Published since 1986
MARCH, 2021
Farm World
www.farmernews.com.au
Sour taste on juice PAGE 9
PAGE 10
Gardiner scholarships
PAGE 23
Farm manure or industrial waste
By PAM ZIERK-MAHONEY
RICHARD Nankin of Grand Ridge Organics in Allambee South welcomes the first commercial shipment of Australian-grown Bundaberg Organic Sugar. Working in collaboration with organic producer, Sunny Creek Berry Farm, and organic retailers, Leongatha Health Foods and the Baw Baw Food Hub, the group have been excited about the prospect of Australian-grown sugar since first hearing of plans by Bundaberg Sugar to transition part of their crop to certified organic. Read about Grand Ridge Organics on page 4 and 5, and about the first delivery of Bundaberg Organic Sugar on page 7.
ON February 10, the EPA announced it had made moves to change the rules on cow, chicken and sheep manure, declaring farm manure a by-product for many farmers, to a status of industrial waste. A move which has angered farm producers across the state. Victorian farmers immediately took action and are planning concerted opposition to draft Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Victoria recommendations and the Andrews Government to push ahead with controversial measures that define manure as industrial waste, restricting how farms store, transport and use it. The new laws are set to come into effect from July 1. Under the EPA guidelines anyone depositing, transporting or receiving more than 20 cubic metres of solid manure on their property each month must prepare a ‘Declaration of Use’ document
amounting to more red and green tape for farmers. This new law also covers the storage of low risk waste on their properties such as tyres, animal manures or effluent ponds. EPA’s proposal is to ban sheep and cattle grazing paddocks on which animal manure has been spread, instead of adopting the widely accepted industry practice of simply withholding stock for three weeks. The Nationals’ deputy leader Steph Ryan (MLA, Euroa) said the move to reclassify animal manure as industrial waste, is bulldust. Ms Ryan said the State Government needed to dump the plan to label cow, chicken and sheep manure as industrial waste, warning it will add a significant red tape burden to local farmers. “The EPA has confirmed that it intends to tighten the rules on the use of animal manure both on and off farms, classifying it as industrial waste,” Ms Ryan said. ■ Continued page 2
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