On-farm Adverse Events Recovery Plan for adverse climatic events and natural disasters

Individual and rural communities have responsibilities for responding to adverse climatic events and natural disasters that affect farming families (agriculture, horticulture and forestry). Below are central government assistance measures that may be available in small, medium and large-scale adverse events.

An adverse event means any disruption caused by a climatic events or natural disaster and included floods, storm events, snow events, droughts, tornadoes, earthquakes, tsunamis or volcanic eruptions.

An adverse event may be declared a civil defence emergency by the local council. However, it is important to remember that the availability of the assistance outlined below is not dependent on the declaration of a civil defence emergency.

Individuals, communities and businesses need to plan and prepare for adverse events. One of the best ways to speed recovery and build your business and family’s resilience is to think ahead and be prepared.

“Having no plan is a plan to do nothing.”

What is the responsibility of individuals?

Individuals are primarily responsible for their response and recovery following adverse events. You should consider the risks you face from adverse events and develop strategies to protect your family and business from those risks. These risk management strategies might include:

  • setting aside reserves of money, food and livestock feed;

  • owning a generator;

  • keeping insurance up to date;

  • locating buildings and planting crops away from areas of
    high risk;

  • planting drought-resistant crops and planting trees on
    highly erodible land;

  • keeping stock in good health; and

  • considering climatic risks and natural hazards when purchasing land.

Individuals are also responsible for safeguarding the welfare of their livestock, including the humane disposal of livestock. Under the Animal Welfare Act 1999, the responsibility for ensuring the health and welfare of animals rests with the owner or the person in charge of the animals. Farmers are urged to make timely decisions to avoid problems. You can seek advice from Federated Farmers, veterinarians, stock and feed agents and farm advisers.

What is the responsibility of rural communities?

Community members need to work together to manage local and regional adverse events. A community may be:

  • a small group of farmers living in an isolated valley;

  • a sector group in a region; or

  • all of the people occupying a district or a region.

Rural Support Trusts are community organisations involved in coordinating response and recovery activities in rural communities during or after an adverse event. Rural Support Trusts operate in every region in New Zealand and work closely with local Civil Defence Emergency Management groups. The Trusts also work closely with other rural organisations such as Rural Women NZ, Federated Farmers, Forest Owners’ Association, Farm Forestry Association and Horticulture New Zealand.

Following an adverse event of any size, your regional Rural Support Trust should be your first point of call for information on the assistance and support available.

Central Government will also activate an emergency line 0800 779 997 following medium and large-scale events to provide information on the assistance available.

Restoration of essential community services

Local government is responsible for restoring community services such as roading, water supplies and flood protection.

Central government is responsible for state highway restoration through Transit NZ.

Telecommunication and line companies are responsible for restoring phone and power supplies.

How central Government assistance is triggered

Small-scale events

Every year there are periods of disruptive weather or localised adverse climatic events that affect a relatively small number of farms. Communities should first organise a local response with local government and their local Rural Support Trust. However, farming families severely affected may qualify for the following central government assistance.

Tax relief:

Inland Revenue has a number of tax relief assistance measures including late deposits or early withdrawals from the income equalisation scheme, late re-estimates of provisional tax, extensions of time for filing, instalment arrangements, and remission of penalties. For more information, contact your tax agent or Inland Revenue’s emergency helpline 0800 473 566.

Working for Families assistance:

If your income has changed as a result of an adverse event, you may be eligible to receive extra money through Working for Families. Working for Families package is made up of three components:

  • Working for Families tax credits: These are paid to families with children aged 18 years or under to help with the cost of raising a family. They are made up of four types of payments: family tax credit, in-work tax credit, minimum family tax credit and parental tax credit.

  • Childcare Assistance: This can help with the cost of childcare for preschool and school aged children. It is made up of two types of payments: Childcare subsidy; and OSCAR subsidy (out of school care).

  • Accommodation Supplement: This can help with the cost of your rent, mortgage, board and other essential household costs. You don’t have to have children to get an accommodation supplement.

To see if you’re eligible for more money through Working for Families go to www.workingforfamilies.govt.nz and check how much you could get by using the calculators. You can also call 0800 774 004 for more information on housing and childcare, or 0800 227 773 for more information on tax credits.

Labour assistance:

  • Task Force Green (TFG): This is available if properties have suffered damage from an adverse climatic event. TFG is a wage subsidy programme for specific projects that are of benefit to the community or environment. For more information contact your local Work and Income office.

  • Job Search Service: A service for people who are either working and want to stay in their current job, are looking for a job, or want or need to change careers and/or are interested in training.

Financial assistance:

Work and Income may provide financial assistance to both farming and non-farming families whose incomes have been affected by an adverse event. This financial assistance may include:

  • Unemployment benefit: This provides income support for people who are looking for work or training for work.

  • Emergency benefit: This is an income and asset tested benefit payable to people who are in hardship and who are unable to earn enough income for themselves (or any dependent family) and cannot receive another benefit.

  • Special Needs grants: This provides a non-taxable, one-off recoverable or non-recoverable payment to meet immediate needs.

  • Recoverable Assistance Payments: This provides non-taxable, interest free, financial assistance to meet essential immediate needs for special items or services. This assistance has to be paid back but may be paid back in instalments.

Mentoring/Advice:

Financial negotiation and counselling/mentoring services are available via Rural Support Trusts for families and individuals who need to talk with an independent person experienced in farm, forestry or orchard management. Contact your local Rural Support Trust, or alternatively contact Victim Support on 0800 842 846.

Medium-scale events

Occasionally there are adverse events that impact on farms and farming families on a district/multi-district scale. Communities and regional organisations are expected to organise local responses. In a medium-scale event central government may provide assistance as outlined above, plus additional assistance including:

Rural Assistance Payments:

Work and Income may provide payments to assist with essential living expenses. These payments are set at the same rate as the unemployment benefit; an income and asset test applies. For more information contact your local Work and Income office or a Rural Support Trust.

Rural Assistance Payment brochure [PDF 88KB]

New Start Grants:

MAF may provide a one-off grant for families to permanently leave commercial farming when there is no adequate financial viability as a result of an adverse event. Strict criteria apply to these grants. For more information contact your local MAF Policy office.

Technology transfer assistance:

MAF may provide grants for education workshops, meetings and media information to provide technical and financial advice on options for dealing with adverse events. This technology transfer would often be administered via industry organisations.

Community event assistance:

MAF may provide grants to help sponsor local community events aimed at boosting morale. For more information contact your local MAF Policy office.

Agricultural Recovery Facilitator:

Facilitators would be appointed to coordinate the initial stages of some recovery operations. They would work via the local Rural Support Trust and help identify at risk farming families and help these farming families access applicable assistance. For more information contact your local Rural Support Trust or MAF Policy office.

Labour assistance:

Enhanced Task Force Green (ETFG) is an enhanced labour assistance scheme that covers the wages of workers and supervisors to help with the clean-up operation in areas where there is too much damage for the local community to manage alone. ETFG can help with clearing trees and debris, repairing fencing, building repairs and general clean-up. ETFG workers can be local jobseekers, students, and workers who may not be able to work because of the damage caused by the storms. ETFG is funded by Work and Income, and organised in partnership with local councils and communities. For more information about ETFG, contact your local Work and Income office or council.

Volunteer costs:

In some recovery operations, the travel and accommodation costs for volunteers from outside the region are met. For more information, contact your local MAF Policy office.

Rural Support Trusts:

These exist in all regions of New Zealand, and would take a leading role in response and recovery activities in rural areas. The Trusts would be funded by MAF to lead/coordinate many of the activities outlined in this brochure. For more information contact your local Rural Support Trust or MAF Policy office.

Large-scale events

Occasionally, climatic or natural disasters occur on a significant scale that seriously impacts on the regional and/or national economy. For large-scale adverse events, central government will lead
the response and recovery phase in conjunction with local government and may provide additional assistance to that outlined above.

Special recovery measure:

May be made available at the discretion of central government. A special recovery measure would reimburse a share of the costs for:

  • restoration of uninsurable on-farm infrastructure;

  • re-establishment of uninsurable pasture, crops and forestry (excluding slips); and

  • initial clean up of silt and debris (where uninsurable).

Reimbursement would be at a rate of 50 percent, with an excess of $10 000 or 10 percent of damage costs (whichever is greater). Assistance would be capped at a maximum of $250 000 per farm business.

Requesting government assistance:

After an adverse event, first contact your local Rural Support Trust and/or industry representatives such as Federated Farmers or Horticulture NZ.

The Rural Support Trust, Local authorities and representative industry groups will liaise with their local MAF Policy office to:

  • advise on the severity of the event;

  • confirm that a local response has occurred; and

  • specify the type of assistance needed.

How central government assistance is triggered

The matrix of government response is used as a guide by the Government for determining which recovery measures may be made available. Each event is assessed using five criteria, and is classified depending on where the majority of the criteria sit within each column below.

SCALE OF THE ADVERSE EVENT

SMALL SCALE
The majority of the criteria sit within this column

MEDIUM SCALE
The majority of the criteria sit within this column

LARGE SCALE
The majority of the criteria sit within this column
Themes Criteria Assessment/classification of the event
Risk management options Availability of options Readily available Moderately available No practical options available
Magnitude of event Likelihood of the event Frequent Infrequent Rare
Scale of physical impact Local level District level/multi-district level Regional/ national level
Capacity of community to cope Degree of economic impact Local level District level/multi-district level Regional/ national level
Degree of social impact Local level District level/multi-district level Regional/ national level
Examples   2006 Whangaehu Valley flood
2005 Gisborne flood		 2007 Northland storm
2007 North Island East Coast drought
2006 Canterbury snow
2004 Eastern Bay of Plenty flood		 2008 National drought
2004 Lower North Island floods
1988 Cyclone Bola
Possible government assistance   Small-scale event recovery measures Small-scale event recovery measures
+ Medium-scale event recovery measures		 Small-scale event recovery measures
+ Medium-scale event recovery measures
+ Special recovery measure

Contact your local RURAL SUPPORT TRUST

To find out more about:

  • qualifying for assistance; and
  • how to request government support.
Place Contact person Email Telephone
Northland Northland Rural Support Trust Helen Moodie helen.moodie@landcare.org.nz 021 354 605
Waikato/Hauraki/Coromandel Waikato/Hauraki/Coromandel Rural Relief Trust Neil Bateup bateupn@xtra.co.nz 0800 787 254
Bay of Plenty Bay of Plenty Rural Support Trust Derek Spratt spratty@netsmart.net.nz 07 533 3764
Gisborne East Coast Rural Support Trust (Gisborne) David Scott treescapefarm@xtra.co.nz 06 868 4840
Hawkes Bay East Coast Rural Support Trust (Hawkes Bay) Agricultural Recovery Facilitators Mike Barham md.ee.barham@xtra.co.nz 06 877 3930,
027 582 8443
Tom Goodger tgoodger@pggwrightson.co.nz 06 858 6780,
027 597 5839
Manawatu/Rangitikei/Wanganui Manawatu/Rangitikei Family Support Trust Margaret Millard millard@manawatu.gen.nz 021 329 9977
Tararua East Coast Rural Support Trust (Tararua) Chris Southgate cwsouthgate@xtra.co.nz 06 374 9862
Taranaki Taranaki Rural Support Trust Peter Adamski pkadamski@orcon.net.nz 06 751 4217
Wairarapa East Coast Rural Support Trust (Wairarapa) Bruce Watkins hmebw@xtra.co.nz 06 378 6895
Marlborough/Nelson/Tasman Top of the South Trust Ian Blair ieblair@xtra.co.nz 03 578 9923
West Coast Westland Rural Trust (Dobson) Dianne Milne bobmilne@xtra.co.nz 03 738 0038
Ross Bishop rossbishop@xtra.co.nz 03 768 9000
Canterbury North Canterbury Rural Support Trust Dorothy Oakley spudfarm@xtra.co.nz 03 318 1742
Mid-Canterbury Emergency Relief Trust Allan Baird allan.baird@xtra.co.nz 03 308 7594
South Canterbury Adverse Event Trust David Hewson hewson@farmside.co.nz 03 612 6367
Otago Otago Adverse Events Trust Irene Scurr scurbiko@xtra.co.nz 03 454 6198
Bev McCaw beverleymccaw@slingshot.co.nz 03 434 0459
Southland Southland Rural Support Trust Russell Falconer russell.f@sld.quik.co.nz 027 431 8173

Contact your local MAF Policy office for more information

Location Telephone Mobile
Hamilton 07 957 8314 029 957 8313
Rotorua 07 921 3400 029 921 3407
Hastings 06 974 8814 029 974 8811
Wellington 04 894 0100 029 894 0691
Nelson 03 543 9182 029 943 1025
Christchurch 03 943 1703 029 943 1706
Dunedin 03 951 4700 029 951 4716

You can also contact other Government agencies

Govt agency

Service

Telephone

Inland Revenue Emergency line 0800 473 566
  General enquiries 0800 227 774
  Working for Families (eg tax credits assistance) 0800 227 773
Work and Income General enquiries 0800 559 009
  Working for Families 0800 774 004
Victim Support General enquiries 0800 842 846
MAF Animal Welfare Complaints 0800 327 027
0800 Government Helpline Only activated depending on scale of event 0800 779 997

Contact for Enquiries

Manager
North Island Regions
Sector Performance Policy
MAF Policy
Hamilton
NEW ZEALAND

Phone: +64 7 957 8313
Contact this person

 
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