*This letter appeared in the Southland Times today and was written by Allan Baird, Dairy section vice-chairman Federated Farmers Southland. The coloured comments are mine :-)
I visited the Waituna Lagoon recently and was impressed by the beauty of the setting. Framing this picture on the south side is the sea. To the west are the Awarua Plains. To the north and east is farmland. It is through this corridor that you drive to visit the lagoon; this section can say a lot about the state of our province.
( It certainly does Allan but clearly what the 'section' says to you is very different to what it says to others!)
This is hard farming country and times have not always been good. It was developed in the 1970s with the help of government subsidies. These were removed in the 1980s. Incomes dropped and so did expenditure. Control of certain weed species, particularly gorse, abated. Unfinished development work allowed water-tolerant species such as rushes to re-enter pastures.
(Those rushes are, I suppose, indicative of nature doing what it does best - matching plants to habitats. Those 'pastures' are the natural place for rushes and other wetland plants to grow, having been home to them for centuries. Ryegrass is the interloper here and can only be sustained with high inputs from machinery and chemical fertilizers, in particular, urea.)
As happens in the cities, renewal of this area needed to occur. Farmers responded, new money entered this region, land development work was completed and large areas have now been re-sown in high-producing pastures.
(High-producing, high-demand pastures. As well as needing constant input of fossil-fuel based chemicals, these high-performance grasses necessitate major earth works, in the form of tile drainage, to be undertaken, along with on-going drain clearance to ensure that the pastures don't become wetland habitat again.)
In the Waituna catchment, and in other parts of Southland, dairy farming has been allowed choice. Profitable businesses have discretionary expenditure and many farmers are choosing to exercise this in ways that reduce their impact on the environment and enhance the wellbeing of their animals.
(Good on those farmers for choosing to reduce their impact on the environment, an impact that, in the Waituna, must be described as severe.)
Indoor wintering sheds, water treatment plants and large storage of waterbound nutrients for deferred application are some of the areas. Science plays a large part in expanding our food producing capacity but it should not be robbing from the environment.
(Again, Allan talks sense here. The actions of farmers should not be 'robbing from the environment'. Sadly, that's exactly what is happening in the Waituna catchment. Undeniably, the area has undergone serious degradation as the result of land use changes, almost all of which is attributable to farming.)
The corridor to the Waituna is showing vibrancy and the communities should be applauded for their efforts.
(The 'vibrancy' describes here is as seen through the eyes of a farming advocate. An environmentalist would perhaps strongly disagree and might describe the whole catchment as heavily damaged, in light of it's original state. Rather than 'vibrant', they might say 'degraded'.)
This renewal does appear to be at odds, however, with certain areas of the science community.
('Certain areas'? Not all scientists then? Here Allan goes well beyond his previously careful rosy-picture painting. He's about to blame someone for the problems in the Waituna catchment. Will it be the farmers?)
A number of scientists who are in the Lagoon Technical Group (a group convened by Environment Southland) have a vested interest in building up the case that all is not well in the Waituna Catchment area.
(Ah! The 'rumour' that all is not well in the Waituna, has been manufactured by those vested-interest Environment Southland scientists, for their own gain..somehow...
Robust and peer-reviewed science is needed to clarify this.
(Has Allen been hiding under a rock? Those peer-reviews have been long completed and reported.)
Waituna and it's communities are part of Southland, clear policies and sound science should lead the way forward.
(I'm glad you said that Allen! Sound science is exactly what Environment Southland has practised for some time now and clear policies are what we are building right now. I'm sure you'll be very happy with what we are developing.) Renewal within the province should not be hindered by restraining policies.
(Renewal? Allan's chosen that word very carefully hasn't he. He's unwilling to use the more commonly used 'development'. Development is what is happening in the Waituna, expansion and intensification. I wonder why he's averse to using those words? He also seems very cagey about being restrained, held-back or hindered by 'restrictions'. He seems to be angling for a free-hand for his industry to do whatever they want, un-restricted.)
All businesses need to be able to adapt to changing customer demands. If they cannot, viability of the business will decline, and many other negative factors will follow.
(I'd add, 'All businesses need to adapt to the needs of the environment. If they cannot, the viability of the environment and the business will decline, and many other negative factors will follow.')
ALLAN BAIRD
Dairy section vice-chairman
Federated Farmers Southland
(Commentary in red by Robert Guyton)
Thursday, September 1, 2011
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12 comments:
"F******** Farmers!"
FANTASTIC Farmers.Well done RG for getting it correct, (for once).
Farmers are FANTASTIC people who put up with over-the-top media beat-ups.
Sally - I'm of the opinion also, that farmers are fantastic. I believe they will lead us through our present economic and environmental problems, after all, they have land and the wherewithal to cultivate it, grow food in it and keep it in good health. This letter hfrom Mr Baird however, can hardly be described as a 'beat-up', given that he wrote it and sent it to the newspaper for publication.
Do you have an opinion on what he's said in his letter?
I do.
RG - I am not referring to the letter. Just your F********Farmers headline.
ban dairy aye bOb?
Open to interpretation Sally. You fill in the missing letters. I thought you did well. 'Fortunate' might have done, 'flailing' maybe? What did you think of Allan's letter?
D'yan reckon jabba? That's a bit reactionary. How about we make milk production so environmentally efficient that every one is happy with it?
I'm one for best solutions for everyone. You seem extremist.
Fairly typical attitude unfortunately Robert. I have to wonder whether the feds have a South Island advisor for these opinion pieces, as this piece on Waituna reads very,very similar to a feds media release regarding Lake Brunner on the West Coast.
Though from reading an article in the latest fish & game magazine, I think the plight of Waituna seems much more critical than Brunner at present.
We can't let lagoons like this 'flip' it is simply unacceptable and these buggers need to get in line.
That's very interesting Shunda and credible too. There's a curious disconnect from reality evident in Mr Baird's letter. He doesn't seem to have noticed that there's a lagoon at the bottom of the catchment he lauds so eloquently, and that it's perilously close to collapsing, as Ellesmere did in the past. I was pretty gobsmacked to read "To the north and east is farmland. It is through this corridor that you drive to visit the lagoon; this section can say a lot about the state of our province."
Honestly, that's bare-faced!
There are letters going in to the editor from various 'agencies' and the fall-out from Mr Baird's letter will be very interesting to follow. I'll post them here for any and everyone interested.
Lake Brunner's your baby Shunda. Don't drop her!
Sally most Southlanders realise the problem with the farming community is not with local born owners.
The problem is I suspect with owners and managers of corporate owned farm holdings. Where management decisions for Southland are made in Auckland to Peking to Hamburg. Those born here will care about our province as a bank manager said once to my husband a wise person doesn't shit in his own back yard.
Sadly our govt has allowed a open door policy of overseas ownership and the pollutions etc of our environment is the result of such a stupid policy.
While I know just what you are talking about Pauline, I would say that a wise man would sht in his own backyard, into a compost toilet, thus keeping the nutrients he produces right there, rather than exporting them:-)
I have a horse in both races here, farming and environment. I have watched the dairy boom change the face of the West Coast with the initial encouragement of the populace. This has turned to disquiet as effluent disposal has regularly found itself fouling streams creeks rivers and lakes.
My hope is a return to the tried and true Common Law. It has been refined through centuries of use. But, politicians love to interfere, its in their DNA to see themselves as the answer to problems and we have the RMA as an 'off-course substitute' for common law and common sense.
If somebody lets their stock or industry foul a waterway then fine the living crap out of them as per Common Law. Don't go for wholesale banning of an industry because individuals within it might offend.
The dairy industry is run by accountancy and less by animal husbandry. Accountants get the message when profit disappears in fines.
George
That's very sensible George.
You finish with:
"The dairy industry is run by accountancy and less by animal husbandry."
Which seems to be the case, then add,
" Accountants get the message when profit disappears in fines." to which I would say, by then it's too late for the environment. Intervention before that point is vital, I believe.
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