From 1 July 2021 application of synthetic nitrogen fertiliser to pastoral land for each contiguous landholding is capped at 190 kg/ha/year:
Where this cannot be met, resource consent is required.
To comply with the new rules, dairy farmers are required to submit records of their annual synthetic nitrogen use to council for us to report to the Ministry for the Environment (Mfe).
Regional and unitary councils have worked with Ballance and Ravensdown on a straight-forward and consistent method for collecting the required data. There are three nitrogen use reporting tools that you can choose from to record your synthetic nitrogen use on grazed land in the twelve-month period from 1 July to 30 June in the following year. The three tools of choice are:
You will be able to submit your records through these tools from 29 August 2022 (Note data already submitted will not require resubmission)
Note, the rules originally required this reporting to be completed by 31 July 2022, however we can confirm that there will be no action taken for late submission this year. We would like this information by the end of October; if this date is not achievable or you are having difficulties inputting the required information please advise Council. Council will contact you later in the year if we have still not received your data.
HawkEye and MyBallance are existing tools that have had functionality added to allow data inputs to be used for calculating the synthetic nitrogen use by farm land-use area. When given permission by the person inputting the data it is submitted securely to the appropriate regional and unitary council/s. If you have any problems with inputting data with either of these portals please contact your Agri-Manager.
The Regional Sector web portal (N-Cap teurukahika) is a recording system that requires manual calculation of the same information. A calculation spreadsheet is available for download which guides you through how to create the required records – this includes information such as the farm business entity, fertiliser purchases, landholding, land use along with dates, volume, and types of synthetic nitrogen application. This information is entered into a form in the web portal and just like the fertiliser company apps, data is then submitted securely to the appropriate regional and unitary council/s.
This spreadsheet is available here [XLSX, 103 KB]for download, it can be populated throughout the year as you purchase and apply fertiliser and saved for your own information, the automatic calculations can then be inputted into the N-Cap portal at years end.
Help videos for n-cap teurukahika(external link) have been produced by the N-Cap project team and can be accessed at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiXzyviK4589KkHUgfoVyJRElpnYShL8W(external link)
Over time, other companies may come on board with their own apps to perform the same functions required by the new rules in the National Environmental Standards for Freshwater Management.
If you have any questions, please contact council. If you have problems entering your data after 29 August, please check the support information on the fertiliser company app or the NCap website.
No action relating to the submission of data will be taken by regional or unitary councils in the period after 31 July 2022 until the end of October 2022. We know that many farmers will be keen to submit their data to ensure compliance with the rules, however the Ministry for the Environment are asking people to wait until the new national reporting systems are available. Later in the year you may be contacted by your council if you have not yet provided your data.
We are aware that many farmers already supply some fertiliser data to their dairy company. The new regulations require different data than what is currently provided. The development of the new tools by the Regional Sector and fertiliser industry has been carried out to meet those different requirements and provide a consistent way for farmers to submit data to their regional or unitary council.
You are not required to provide fertiliser receipts, but it is a good idea to keep the physical receipts of purchase on file, so they are available if there is any query by your council.
The Ministry for the Environment guidance on synthetic nitrogen recording provides a section on what dairy farmers must report to the regional council. It states that farmers must provide “records of all synthetic nitrogen fertiliser purchased during the year”. The N-Cap reporting systems require farmers to record their fertiliser purchases.
In the MyBallance and Ravensdown’s HawkEye systems these date, type and quantity details will be automatically populated for your N-Cap record.
In the Regional Sector N-Cap Webform you will need to enter purchase records in fill-in boxes to capture the fertiliser supplier name, purchase date, product name and quantity purchased.
None of the three systems require farmers to provide the physical receipts for their purchases. This approach was adopted by the collaborative work between the regional sector and fertiliser companies. The agreed method provides more useful and consistent summary information on purchase than would have been possible through the provision of receipts.
Sometimes fertiliser costs can be shared by a farm owner and sharemilker, either by splitting an invoice for payment or each buying independently for the same property. The information needed to meet the council and MfE requirements is the application rate of synthetic nitrogen on pastoral land, regardless of the terms of purchase or payment.
You should record the application rates for all synthetic nitrogen fertiliser used on the grazed area; this should be recorded only once for each contiguous landholding. You can keep the physical receipts of purchase on file, so it is available if there is any query by your council.
The preferred way of recording synthetic nitrogen use is through one of the fertiliser company portals – HawkEye or MyBallance.
If you are not signed up with either of these, then you can use the N-Cap Webform online tool provided by the Regional Sector.
If you cannot access any of these tools, then the best way forward is to contact us to discuss how else you could provide the necessary information.
You can link to the log in page for HawkEye at https://www.hawkeye.farm/
You can link to the log in page for MyBallance at https://ballance.co.nz/myballance
The simple answer is no. You only need to enter data through one system.
If you purchase from both Ravensdown and Ballance then you can submit your records for both companies through either of their tools. Each company can record fertiliser purchased from another company and from on-farm stored fertiliser.
The simple answer is no. You only need to enter data through one system.
If you choose to record your synthetic nitrogen information in the N-Cap Webform, you do not need to record in HawkEye or MyBallance.
If you have not purchased or applied synthetic fertiliser in the 1 July 2021 to 30 June 2022 period, please record the synthetic nitrogen use as ‘zero’ in HawkEye, MyBallance or the web portal supplied by the regional sector. This will be the same requirement for any year when you do not use synthetic nitrogen fertiliser.
You do not need to. The MfE Regulations state that all farms need to record synthetic nitrogen use, however the requirement for reporting this to councils is only for dairy farms milking cows.
If you have used a rate greater than 190 kg N/ha it is likely that you will need to apply for a resource consent. In the first instance please contact council to discuss your options and provide advice. Your rural or dairy farming rep may also be able to support this process.
With the National Environmental Standards for Freshwater in place from 2020 the records of synthetic nitrogen fertiliser use will need to be part of your Due Diligence for potential farm purchase.
If you have purchased or applied synthetic fertiliser in the 1 June 2022 to 30 June 2022 period, this amount needs to be recorded in your fertiliser supplier’s tool (HawkEye or MyBallance) or the web portal supplied by the Regional Sector. If you have records available from the previous owner this can also be recorded; your complete record for the next season will be required.
If you have not purchased or applied synthetic fertiliser in the 1 June 2022 to 30 June 2022 period, and do not have records from the previous owner, please record the synthetic nitrogen use as ‘zero’ in your fertiliser supplier’s tool (HawkEye or MyBallance) or the web portal supplied by the regional sector. Your complete record for the next season will be required.
There is good guidance available from the Ministry for the Environment (MfE) about how to record synthetic nitrogen use for these different land uses. The guidance from the MfE website is here
The use of synthetic nitrogen fertiliser must be recorded for all pastoral use land.
As well as recording synthetic nitrogen use, dairy farm businesses that milk dairy cows must also report their annual records of fertiliser use to the regional council/s with compliance responsibilities for the physical area of the farm.
The fertiliser application records you submit through MyBallance, Ravensdown’s HawkEye or the Regional Sector N-Cap Webform is reporting and meets the MfE requirements.
HawkEye, MyBallance and the N-Cap Webform each have functions that allow you to view and download a PDF copy of the information that you, or your representative, have entered for your farm. This is a summary report of all the information you have authorised for submission to the N-Cap data store for reporting to councils and MfE.
The information flows directly to the N-Cap data store and is reported to the regional councils to assist with identifying compliant and non-compliant synthetic nitrogen application rates.
Summary data by region, without individual farm contact information, will be provided to the Ministry for the Environment. Council will hold the submitted data for compliance purposes. If you have any questions about the information held for your farm, please contact council.
Synthetic nitrogen fertiliser is defined in the National Environmental Standards for Freshwater (NES-FW) as any substance (whether solid or liquid) that is more than 5 per cent nitrogen by weight and is applied to land as a source of nitrogen nutrition for plants. It includes any manufactured urea, diammonium phosphate or sulphate of ammonia.
This excludes composts, soil treatments and or fertiliser that is derived from plant or animal waste and is minimally processed (eg, by being composted, mixed, dried and pelleted).
The nitrogen cap is one of several regulations in the NES-FW that aim to limit the degradation of New Zealand’s freshwater ecosystems due to nutrient enrichment.
For more information refer to the Ministry for the Environments factsheet
A contiguous landholding of pastoral land is where pastoral land encompasses one or more land parcels within a farm. Parcels physically separated by a road, railway or waterbody are considered contiguous. Other land physically separated, i.e. a separate block down the road would be considered a separate landholding even if run as part of the same operation. This interpretation could be subject to further change.
Pastoral land is land that is grazed by livestock and includes land grazed by stock on annual fodder crops but does not include land grazed by stock on arable crop stubble.
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