Agriculture minister Jaala Pulford will outline options on right-to-farm planning reforms, biosecurity and infrastructure in Benalla next Wednesday.
Ms Pulford will discuss key recommendations put forward by the government-appointed Animal Advisory Committee on resolving right-to-farm conflicts, which have plagued many farmers over recent years.
The committee was formed last December, in response to the ongoing uncertainty farmers faced in the planning process.
It followed high-profile disputes between rural councils and VFF livestock producers John Watson (with Campaspe Shire) and David Blackmore (with Murrindindi Shire).
Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF) president Peter Tuohey said both Mr Watson and Mr Blackmore ended up in disputes in response to their local councils’ demands they obtain intensive animal husbandry permits.
Under current rules, farmers must obtain a permit if they’re engaged in intensive animal husbandry, which is defined as “land used to keep or breed farm animals...by importing most food from outside the enclosures”.
“But what’s an enclosure?” Mr Tuohey said. “Is it a paddock, yard or pen? And do the animals have to be permanently housed there?
“And what does “most food” mean? Is it 51 per cent, 70 per cent, 80 per cent of feed? And is most measured by weight, nutritional value or volume?
“The result of such uncertainty is conflict. We’ve had councils demanding farmers obtain intensive animal husbandry permits to run cattle in paddocks, even though they move the cattle from paddock to paddock and allow them to graze.”
Mr Tuohey said the VFF had lodged a submission with the government’s Animal Advisory Committee advocating the removal of the intensive and extensive definitions from the Victorian planning scheme and instead clearly defining what types of farming should require a permit.
“Permit requirements are already clearly defined for the Broiler and Cattle Feedlot sectors, through their relevant industry codes,” Mr Tuohey said.
Mr Tuohey said the VFF was finding that increasingly, council demands for a permit had more to do with urban encroachment and rural subdivisions, which councils should not approved in the first place.
Other disputes relate to neighbours failing to understand that they’ve moved into a farming zone, which is a production zone, subject to odour, noise, night-time harvesting and other activities.
“Everyone has to realise farmers are there to produce food and fibre, not provide new neighbours with a rural view,” Mr Tuohey said.
Ms Pulford is also expected to discuss the roll-out of the State Government’s $200 million Agriculture Infrastructure and Jobs Fund and the recent budget announcement on biosecurity funding.
The forum will be held at 6:30pm, next Wednesday, June 1, at the Lakeside Community Centre, Benalla Showgrounds, Arundel St.
