The Government is moving to give high-country farmers more room to diversify, with a Bill to expand what activities are allowed on Crown pastoral leases and to simplify day-to-day operations.

Land Information Minister Chris Penk says the legislation will amend the Crown Pastoral Land Act and Land Act to permit a wider range of activities alongside pastoral farming, including horticulture, farm-gate retail, hospitality and tourism ventures, and renewable energy projects. The Government’s modelling points to higher per-hectare returns from those uses, lifting typical pastoral returns of about $80 per hectare to around $2,000 for some horticulture such as cherries, and up to $18,500 for solar projects in some cases.

Ministers say higher-value leases over time would increase revenue to the Crown and support regional jobs. The changes apply to about 1.2 million hectares of Crown pastoral land across the South Island, most of it currently used for pastoral farming.

The Bill will also spell out which routine farm activities can proceed without approval, and which require consent — examples given include fertiliser application and repairing farm buildings. Penk says the intent is to cut administrative burden and provide clearer certainty for leaseholders.

A notable element is a proposed pathway to remove land from the Crown pastoral estate in “exceptional” cases where an alternative use would deliver significant benefits. The release does not detail how those cases would be defined or decided, or what form removal would take.

South Island Minister James Meager says the changes are aimed at letting farmers add complementary income streams — from beekeeping and on-site produce sales to tourism and hunting — while maintaining pastoral farming as the primary land use. The Government says environmental protections for the high country will remain, but the specific rules and thresholds are not set out in the announcement.

The Bill will be introduced to Parliament and opened to public submissions at select committee.