Farmers are welcoming a proposal to remove difficult rules from the Resource Management Act

The Government's released three discussion documents proposing amending 12 current national directions and four new ones.

They include changes to freshwater management and regulation of farming practices.

Beef and Lamb New Zealand Chair Kate Acland says the government's addressing issues they've been highlighting for a long time.

She says the rules are complex, impractical and in some cases impossible to meet.