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Speaker 1: About ECN night trade emergency must be electioncies in any

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Speaker 1: environment Canterbury, they declared this emergency. They're worried about the groundwater.

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Speaker 1: You can guess what the farmers think. Colin Hurst is

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Speaker 1: the third Farmer's Vice Presidents with us Morning Colin Yeah,

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Speaker 1: Morning nine to seven which was the vote, shows how

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Speaker 1: contentious it is. I guess is this electioneering?

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Speaker 2: Most definitely, Mike. Look, this is a cheap political stunt

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Speaker 2: and the last meeting of a council why now?

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Speaker 1: Good question? I think. Also nothing. Actually it's important to

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Speaker 1: point out nothing happens, does it. I mean they had

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Speaker 1: a vote and they said, oh it is an emergency.

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Speaker 1: Nothing actually happens, does it?

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Speaker 2: No? No, that's right. But look, this is this is

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Speaker 2: something that farmers we know about. It's been going on

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Speaker 2: for years. We know there's night trade issues and farmers

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Speaker 2: are doing their bit and we're working with the council

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Speaker 2: can constructively. Yeah, it's hugely diverse, Mike.

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Speaker 1: Do we know for a fact the night trade is

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Speaker 1: all farmers or could there be something else? From history?

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Speaker 2: Most definitely. We've got examples of an old meatwork in

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Speaker 2: some areas where there's a whole of septy canks, so

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Speaker 2: it's just not farming. And it goes back in a

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Speaker 2: number of years as well, so it can go back.

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Speaker 2: We've had some people come up with some information that

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Speaker 2: goes back to the sixties has been nitrade issues.

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Speaker 1: Right, So the part that farmers can do are they

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Speaker 1: doing it?

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Speaker 2: Almost definitely. Look, we've had a through the council again,

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Speaker 2: we've had past ten years, we've had at up to

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Speaker 2: thirty percent reductions on some of the night trade losses

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Speaker 2: required by farmers. So there's a lot of work been

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Speaker 2: going on. There's fencing of their waterways, some of the

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Speaker 2: new different plants like plantain reduced to nitrogen. We're really

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Speaker 2: kickle how we apply our good lier nowadays. So there's

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Speaker 2: lots of things going.

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Speaker 1: Okay, So they did ten percent of the wells, they

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Speaker 1: did a big test on wells that were three hundred

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Speaker 1: and forty nine wells around the region. Ten percent we're

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Speaker 1: found to have nitrate levels above the maximum acceptable value

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Speaker 1: for drinking water. You don't dispute that, do you.

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Speaker 2: No, Definitely, we know there's an issue and we're working

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Speaker 2: on it. What they've done yesterday is providing a wedge

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Speaker 2: between our farmers that doing a really good job and

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Speaker 2: the council basically because we have been working with the

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Speaker 2: council or a number of years to try and to

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Speaker 2: try and solve these problems.

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Speaker 1: Have you got a time frame on it? Can you

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Speaker 1: tell the council? Look, here's what we're doing, here's why

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Speaker 1: we're doing it, and here's the effect, and here's what's

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Speaker 1: going to happen over time.

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Speaker 2: Yes, I certainly. Well it's a hard one. It takes

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Speaker 2: Some of it can be immediate, but some of it

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Speaker 2: can also take a number of years. If we reduce

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Speaker 2: our farming intention in some areas, it just takes a

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Speaker 2: number years. It's a bit like the weather, extreme rainfall

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Speaker 2: and it will wash the night treats through this world exactly.

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Speaker 1: Well, what I mean it was all driven by green peace,

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Speaker 1: apart from anything yesterday. Who hate cows? I mean, what

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Speaker 1: do you do about that?

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Speaker 2: Well, our farmers are trying. We're investing in a whole

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Speaker 2: lot in science to to work at what to do. Look,

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Speaker 2: we would like to work with the whole community constructively.

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Speaker 2: Well that's what we want to do. Let's just I

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Speaker 2: thank you.

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Speaker 1: I hear you. Frustration, Colin, appreciate your time. Colin Hurst

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Speaker 1: Federated Farmer's National Vice President.

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Speaker 2: For more from the mic Asking Breakfast, listen live to

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Speaker 2: news talks.

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