Should dairy farmers have to pay for the water they use?
This is a pressing issue for Southland. Dairying uses very high volumes of water throughout the milk production process. There will need to be regulation of the resource, but how that is to be done is all important. Farmers now can avoid a lot of anguish by researching and installing low-water use or no-water use systems. These already exist and are being used now on some farms in New Zealand. A far-sighted farmer will move toward minimizing what will surely become a much fought over resource – water.
Here’s a sample of what Bryce Johnson, Chief Executive of Fish & Game New Zealand has to say.
“New Zealand’s freshwater water resource belongs to all Kiwis and is not the priority or exclusive right of intensive agriculture. Meeting the true costs of production is one way intensive agriculture will accept responsibility for its adverse environmental effects.”
“A voluntary approach to environmental responsibility has not generated the outcomes needed. Perhaps the time has come for intensive dairying to become a controlled activity, especially with the new wave of expansions and conversions that will follow the high pay outs.”
This is a pressing issue for Southland. Dairying uses very high volumes of water throughout the milk production process. There will need to be regulation of the resource, but how that is to be done is all important. Farmers now can avoid a lot of anguish by researching and installing low-water use or no-water use systems. These already exist and are being used now on some farms in New Zealand. A far-sighted farmer will move toward minimizing what will surely become a much fought over resource – water.
Here’s a sample of what Bryce Johnson, Chief Executive of Fish & Game New Zealand has to say.
“New Zealand’s freshwater water resource belongs to all Kiwis and is not the priority or exclusive right of intensive agriculture. Meeting the true costs of production is one way intensive agriculture will accept responsibility for its adverse environmental effects.”
“A voluntary approach to environmental responsibility has not generated the outcomes needed. Perhaps the time has come for intensive dairying to become a controlled activity, especially with the new wave of expansions and conversions that will follow the high pay outs.”
6 comments:
I've heard of a dairy shed system where the cows stand on a concrete grill, the manure falls through the grill and into a storage bay. No extra water is used. The cow muck doesn't get 'mucky' and is able to be spread whenever there is a good opportunity (the rain isn't falling!) How simple and effective. I think this was shown on a news clip a month or so back. Is anyone in Southland looking into this? Seems ideal.
Let's be even-handed over water use. It would be unjust if only farmers were required to pay for water used. Surely any business which uses water should have to pay; hairdressers, hospitality, supermarkets, commercial car washers,boaties, retailers and many others use water for commercial gain.
Of course many businesses already do have a meter on their water and do pay - the point might be that dairy doesn't and they use (I believe) enormous amounts. User pays for all resources is a fair way to go - its a great incentive to become efficient with water use and look for other ways to operate. Innovation and creativity comes from restriction - think of Shakespeare and his wonderful sonnets - the rules for a sonnet are very tight, yet the poety thatis produced is exquisite!
Forget it. The Feds will just jump up and down on us all the way they did with the 'fart tax' and the access across farmland, with the backing of opportunistic politicians, like the clown that drove his tractor up the Beehive steps. English was there too.
We’ve heard of milk’s new name, ‘white-gold’ and we are all buoyed by the promise of the prosperity milk will bring our region, but even more promising for us is ‘blue-gold’. Investors are pouring their money in to what fund managers are calling ‘blue-gold’, because demand is rising world-wide and is unlikely ever to fall. ‘Blue-gold’ is water and Southland has lots of it. Given that it could be our most valuable resource, are we doing enough to protect it? The Sunday Star Times carried a great piece on this yesterday - wonder how many Southlanders clicked to the potential for down here?
That's a fair call about everyone who profits from water use paying for it, but we must be wary that water doesn't become such a valuable resource that only the rich can afford it.
Do you realise how much good drinking-quality water is used to flush your toilet? At least farmers use it to make milk!
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