Kenepuru feedlot proposal faces opposition

Federated Farmers Marlborough is watching closely a proposed intensive feedlot cattle operation for the head of Kenepuru Sound, Marlborough Sounds. In addition, there appears growing concern over the concept, which was approved by the Overseas Investment Office (OIO) in April this year.

The decision says Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) has granted consent to Sjerp William Ysselstein as trustee for The Marlborough Family Estate Trust (United State of America 100%) to acquire approximately 288 hectares of farmland at Kenepuru Sound, Marlborough, for $4.245 million.

The land’s vendors, RW Hopkinson and EJ Hopkinson-Young Partnership (New Zealand 100%) currently operate a sheep and cattle breeding and finishing farm.

The land has been bought with the intention of converting it into a beef finishing farm using barn systems for feeding.

Consent under the Resource Management Act would be required before the conversion to a beef finishing farm can take place and the new farming operation can commence. The consent to purchase the land under the Overseas Investment Act is conditional on consent under the Resource Management Act being granted, which is overseen by the Marlborough District Council.

“The applicant, who has a background in North American dairy and beef farming, intends to convert the property into an intensive feedlot operation using barn systems for feeding and housing cattle. Anticipated benefits include increased agricultural production, higher export earnings, new employment opportunities, and additional capital investment.”

Opposition
However, there is both growing concern and opposition. Pelorus Sound resident Hanneke Kroon is emphatic.

“This style of agriculture should actually be banned, as it is contrary to animal welfare,” she says.  

Hanneke’s background includes first-hand experience of feed lot farming as an exchange student in 1970 to the US, living with a family in Nebraska, who operated a feedlot with 10,000 head of cattle. She has a Master of Science degree

“You would not want such an operation in the Marlborough Sounds, with only one road in or out, which is still under repair from the 2021 and 2022 rain event,” she says. “Barging is very expensive.”

The proposal has attracted attention from outside of Marlborough.

“Land use carries responsibilities as well as opportunities,” said Andi Cockroft chairman of the Council of Outdoor Recreation Associations of NZ.

“Changes in ownership should never distract from the more important question of how that land will be managed for future generations. Investment should improve both economic and environmental outcomes. Success should not require choosing one at the expense of the other.”

Overseas Investors
Murray Horton of Campaign Against Foreign control of Aotearoa (CAFCA) said the Kenepuru Sound feed lot proposal “highlights the continuing acquisition of New Zealand farmland by overseas investors, raising broader questions about foreign ownership of agricultural land and the long-term environmental and social implications of increasingly intensive farming systems.”

Hanneke says a key factor is that Kenepuru Road is the only one road in or out.

“The Kenepuru road is not capable of endless series of trucks, initially concrete trucks and other trucks with building materials, followed by cattle trucks and trucks with corn to feed the cattle. Once the cows are fat enough, they will be trucked out. What are they going to do with the manure and dung produced? Will it also be trucked out or is it poured into a stream to end up in the Kenepuru Sound?” she says.