'It's big brother overload' Farmers react to manure changes

Under the new Environmental Protection Act that took effect on July 1, the classification of industrial waste now includes manure and effluent, sawdust and straw.

The VFF's Wimmera Branch President, Graeme Maher, said farmers were concerned with the precedent the reclassification sets.

"A bureaucrat's got hold of an idea and they've run with it, but they haven't thought about who they catch (in the middle)," Mr Maher said.

"I'll have organic waste set up and I'll go and get some sawdust to mix in. That's now technically industrial waste. If you use straw, it's industrial waste."

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Mr Maher said he understood why the EPA felt it had to make changes after incidents such as the chemical waste dump site unearthed at Lemon Springs, but the new regulations were a step too far.

"Where does that stop? If we don't do something now, you drive along and you see all the little girls who have horse poo available. Will you need a permit for that? All those selling straw and hay bales in the markets, will they need a permit?"

"It's big brother overload."

After negotiations between the EPA and the peak-body representing farmers, the Victorian Farming Federation, a Determination was made declaring farmers transferring manure in quantities of less than 20 cubic metres "without any further regulatory framework".

However, Mr Maher said that it did not go far enough and the VFF have said it would continue to object to the change.

"They go through a million ducks a year at Nhill. A million ducks a year creates an awful lot of litter and they spread it around the paddocks up there."

"What do you do with the duck poo from a million ducks? Do you have to fill in all the paperwork to go and spread it on your own farm?"

Greg Parkinson, the CEO of the Australian Duckmeat Association doubts the EPA would be able to police the policy changes, with the amount of manure being produced.

"It seems like a bit of overreach. I'm not sure they'll be able to manage the process because there's a lot of manure moved around," he said.

"They're talking about having a permit system for manure usage for 20 cubic metres a month, which is only seven tonnes. That's nothing. Duck farmers have said they take out a hundred tonnes each batch."

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The ADMA represents 90 per cent of Australia's duck farmers.

The majority of Victoria's duck industry, and consequently duck litter, is concentrated in the northwest Wimmera and Mallee regions, where the litter is utilised in broad acre cropping, presenting, Mr Parkinson argues, a different risk profile to an area with higher rainfall.

"The advantage a lot of guys in the Wimmera-Mallee have got is that they do a lot of the manure incorporation into soil," Mr Parkinson said.

"And they do that deliberately to improve soil structure and that makes the whole process much safer, which is what the EPA is wanting to achieve."

Mr Parkinson said the reclassification of manure was "draconian and silly; it doesn't take into account the logistics of the amount of manure being moved".

Mr Parkinson argued the variety of waste produced - from poultry litter to manure to straw and sawdust - along with the differing environments across Victoria, are far too broad to be grouped into one category.

"If you look at the complexity of the problem, it's just massive. Bite it off into small chunks!" he said.

"It seems like they're better off breaking it down into sectors and working out what's the best way to work with a particular sector."

Mr Parkinson sees the issue as a carrot and stick problem, with education and incentives likely to be more effective than regulation.

"The regulatory approach is quite silly, it's better to be done by persuasion; getting private sector people to adopt the right practises. It wouldn't be a big task," he said.

"Particularly with situations like Luv-a Duck, where you've got one company with large amounts of managerial control in those contracts set up with the cropping industry. It wouldn't be difficult to get on top of. It just seems eminently sensible."

The Environmental Protection Act came into effect on July 1.

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