Not in our back paddock!
Home » Blog » Sarah Heeringa » Not in our back paddock!What do a UK supermarket chain, Michael Pollan and Jamie Oliver all have in common? They all think factory dairy farming is a bad idea for New Zealand.
In the last days of 2009, the prospect of indoor dairy farming gaining a foothold in the pristine MacKenzie basin got more than a few folks hot under the collar. A Facebook group in opposition to the three applications attracted more than 25,000 members. Environment Canterbury (ECan) received more than 3,000 submissions on the first two applications alone.
The consent process has now been 'called in' by the Minister for the Environment, and consent will be decided by a Ministry-appointed Board of Inquiry chaired by the Environment Court's Judge Bothwick. The proposals will soon be publicly notified for a second time, so members of the public will have a second chance to make a submission. Animal welfare concerns will not be dealt with by the Board of Inquiry, so it's best to leave these out of your submission.
Meanwhile, there are plenty of other ways to have a say!
Here are a few things you can do:
- Send a letter to your local MP or David Carter, Minister for Agriculture
- Send a letter to the companies making the applications:
Southdown Holdings Ltd
PO Box 5481
Tauranga
Five Rivers Ltd
434 Omihi Rd
Waipara RD3
Amberley
Williamson Holdings Ltd
PO Box 5481
Tauranga
- Contact Fonterra directly, either by phone (09-374 9000), by email, or by sending a letter to:
Fonterra Co-operative Group Ltd
9 Princes St
Auckland Central
Private Bag 92032
Auckland
- Check out the Farm Geek website for lots of helpful background info
- And see the Green Party's wbsite for more
example of a draft letter
(Put the letter into your own words before sending)
Dear Minister
I am concerned about the negative impact on our international reputation if New Zealand allows the establishment intensive indoor dairy farming in the MacKenzie Basin. As you well know, New Zealand produce is marketed all over the world on the back of our clean, green image: pastoral farming based on grass and sunshine.
Our agricultural and horticultural trade (and to a similar extent, our tourism) relies on the cultivation of our clean, green image in the eyes of the rest of the world. Whether it’s for the sake of ethics, or to protect local producers, many of our overseas markets will not hesitate to marginalise NZ imports given the opportunity. Once we introduce factory dairy farming (or any factory farming) our products will have to compete on price alone as our unique point of difference vanishes.
The Mackenzie Country is a major drawcard for international tourists, and the gateway to Aoraki / Mt Cook National Park. Over 200,000 international tourists visit the National Park each year. I am concerned that the establishment intensive indoor dairy farming in the MacKenzie Basin will put the majestic Upper Waitaki and important recreational lakes such as Lakes Benmore and Aviemore are at risk of contamination from effluent and nutrient runoff
The Mackenzie Country is also an iconic brown tussock landscape. This unique and fragile environment will also be radically altered by irrigation and intensive dairying
The Mackenzie is important habitat for threatened plants and birds which rely on a dry tussockland habitat. The factory farms will be heavily reliant on supplementary feed being trucked in from elsewhere, resulting in a high carbon footprint. That feed may include palm kernel expeller (PKE); which is known to contribute to deforestation in South East Asia.
New Zealand’s tradition of farming animals outside and on pasture is integral to our clean, green image and our competitive advantage. News that New Zealand dairy products come from factory farmed cows will undermine our international brand, which is unfair to the many good farmers who are farming sustainably.
Water quality
• The consent applications include effluent ponds with 414 million litres of storage capacity and plans to put as much as 1.7 million litres of diluted effluent onto the land every day. This will produce the effluent equivalent to a city of 270,000 people in the Mackenzie Country
• The majestic Upper Waitaki & important recreational lakes such as Lakes Benmore and Aviemore are at risk of contamination from effluent and nutrient runoff
Environment
• The Mackenzie Country is an iconic brown tussock landscape.
This unique and fragile environment will be radically altered by
irrigation and intensive dairying
• The Mackenzie is important habitat for threatened plants and birds which rely on a dry tussockland habitat
• The factory farms will be heavily reliant on supplementary feed
being trucked in from elsewhere, resulting in a high carbon footprint.
It is likely that feed will include palm kernel expeller (PKE); which
contributes to deforestation in South East Asia
Animal health and welfare:
• It is cruel to house cows inside without fresh air and sunlight
for 8 months of the year and for 12 hours a day during summer
•
Animals confined in close quarters are at greater risk of injury and
infection and are likely to need controlling with antibiotics
Tourism and international brand
• The Mackenzie Country is a major drawcard for international
tourists, and the gateway to Aoraki / Mt Cook National Park. Over
200,000 international tourists visit the National Park each year
• New Zealand’s tradition of farming animals outside and on pasture
is integral to our clean, green image and our competitive advantage.
News that New Zealand dairy products come from factory farmed cows will
undermine our international brand, which is unfair to the many good
farmers who are farming sustainably.
Tue March 02, 2010 @ 11:33 AM
