Mr. Joe Condon:

I will make a couple of comments. It has been identified that the excretion bands will reduce stock. An example was cited of a herd of 50 cows being reduced by nine. No attention has been given to the requirement to fence watercourses being extended to all farms, which will cause a loss of livestock in those areas at the extensive end of the scale. It is difficult for farming organisations to work together when one farmer losing stock is of no interest to other farming organisations and vice versa. If there was a unified approach taken by farming organisations across the board to address both extremes, some headway could be made. Of farmers, 94% are compliant with the limit of 170 kg of nitrates. Above that, farmers will lose stock based on the new banding regulation. There are areas where all farmers could work together in agreement, and this is one of them. The same level of intensity and interest must be shown as where extensive farmers are getting penalised in what is almost a collective punishment, with the teacher keeping the whole class in just because one pupil misbehaved.