Plan change would mean pricier veges say growers

Saturday, 18 July 2026

Veggie president Brendan Balle, left, and grower Allan Fong, right, are worried that PC1 will raise prices on supermarket shelves.

North Waikato vegetable growers are worried that new “unworkable” environmental legislation could lead to higher veggie prices on supermarket shelves or growers selling up.

Pukekohe Vegetable Growers Association president Brendan Balle estimates that Plan Change 1 could affect 200 growers in the area and could have flow-on effects to domestic food supply.

“If PC1 becomes operative, and it follows what the Environment Court and council have dictated, we’re very worried that it will likely mean that food supply and production for vegetables will be severely disrupted, for not only the Waikato, but the whole country.

Brendan Balle says PC1 is “unworkable” and needs to be rethought.

“It’s already a challenging environment out there. The country’s been in a recession for who knows how many years, so spending is down and everybody is really tight at the moment. I would hate to see food prices become unaffordable because of this.”

PC1 is the first step in an 80-year programme designed to reduce nitrogen, phosphorus, sediment and bacterial contamination entering the rivers with tighter rules on use in agriculture.

Balle estimated that throughout the winter months, Pukekohe could be contributing to roughly 80% of the domestic vegetable production due to its milder climates. However, he was concerned that the red tape and associated costs of PC1 could drive some growers to reduce production.

Long-time grower Allan Fong is worried about how regulation will impact the next generation.

He added that a common worry was that if growers’ capital costs became too high or uncertain, they would become “unbankable”.

Allan Fong, director of The Fresh Grower, has been on the farm most of his life, but is now apprehensive about the effects of Plan Change 1 (PC1) on his business and the next generation.

Growers’ concerns centre around restrictions on crop rotation and nitrogen use.

“We are up to the third generation on our farm and it’s really challenging for them. They’ve got a lot more hoops to jump through now and a lot more red tape.”

Fong’s key concerns centred around nitrogen use and growing across multiple sub- catchment areas.

Grower Allan Fong says inputs are already high, especially after fuel hikes this year.

“Our type of crops are very nitrogen driven, like that’s the one fundamental element that actually drives green leaf crops. In the last few years, we have tried to be as efficient as we can but there is a limit to how low you can go and in a time-frame.

“If we are mandated with X number of kilos of nitrogen per crop, I can see the situation becoming that we will end up not being able to grow because inputs are so high and yield isn’t as good.”

Grower Allan Fong is a leafy greens grower and would be in the top 5% of big growers supplying the North Island.

He noted that his fuel bill had doubled over the last quarter and inputs like labour were high with the majority of the picking and packing done by hand because he grows leafy greens. Fong employed around 100 staff.

A core growing practice is crop rotation between different parcels of land to prevent diseases and pests for specific plants building up in that area, and to minimise fertiliser and spray use to manage them. Fong aims to rotate once every three years, and currently has operations across about ten different properties.

Veggie boss Brendan Balle says a national standard would be a more workable system.

However, with PC1 focusing on water quality at a sub-catchment level, he has concerns that it will be harder and more costly to get a resource consent because he is across multiple areas.

The farm was started by Fong’s father and grandfather and is now into it’s 70th year of operation with Fong’s son and nephews starting to take over operations.

“We share this as a family and the younger ones are quite chuffed that they can see all of their hard efforts on the store shelf and it’s actually a good, healthy product we’re growing.”

The farm spans about 200ha and they tend to lease another 150has. He would be in the top 5% of growers size-wise and all of his veggies were for domestic consumption. He said very little of New Zealand’s fresh vegetables were imported due to cost and freshness constraints.

He worried that if domestic supply was restricted that more reliance on imports could leave the country vulnerable to geopolitical events cutting off supply.

Balle added that he felt PC1 regulators were not looking at the big picture.

“We’ve all got a responsibility to improve water quality, but it doesn’t mean that everybody should stop growing because then how do we feed everybody? What we’ve got is an unworkable plan for vegetable growers.

“I’ve already got two or three significant growers saying that if it went to the highest degree of regulation, they’d sell.

“I think there needs to be a wider discussion with iwi and the government about the importance of getting it right. I believe the way forward is more catchment collectives and communities working together to get better environmental outcomes.”

He was also advocating for growers to be under a national standard rather than regional plans.

In a statement, the Waikato Regional Council said it was not appropriate to comment on the detail of specific provisions, but noted that “the matters raised by Pukekohe growers have been extensively canvassed through the appeals process”.

“The Court has had the benefit of considerable evidence and submissions from a wide range of parties, including the horticulture sector, and parties have engaged constructively throughout to help refine workable and practicable provisions.”

PC1 is closer to being operational after the Environment Court directed Waikato Regional Council to make 20 changes to finalise details in June.

At a recent Federated Farmers meeting, Ministers Chris Bishop and Todd McClay signalled their concern over PC1 clashing with RMA changes and were taking advice on how to mitigate this.