Letter to the Editor - Feds push engineered grasses

It seemed a harmless enough thing to do, sowing beet seeds across the region's farms – what could go wrong?  Velvet leaf, that's what. 

  The pest plant, one of the most damaging known to farming, arrived in Southland mixed with the beet seeds and set off the emergency bells as soon as it was discovered. The cost of weeding it out was enormous and hasn't ended yet. 

  Two years earlier, it was the turn of swedes, mutagenically altered swede seeds immune to herbicide, sown across Southland farms causing more anxiety, expense and the deaths of hundreds of dairy cows. 

  These agricultural disasters are coming faster and faster, as farming intensifies. 

  Now, it's the turn of genetically-modified pasture grasses. They're not in Southland yet, but they'll be here soon, if Federated Farmers' president Dr William Rolleston gets his way. He has been pushing for the introduction of genetically-engineered grasses into our farmland for some time and now he's increasing the pressure on the New Zealand public to accept these unnatural seeds. 

  Did he miss the news reports about the velvetleaf crisis? Was he not listening when talk down here was all about cows dying after eating mutagenic swedes? 

  Could someone please bring Dr Rolleston up to speed?

Federated Farmer Climate Change spokesperson denies climate change - damn fool!

Here's a foolish man making foolish claims.

Cut cow numbers - Feds

"Dairy farmers on light soils may have to accept a cut in cow numbers to reduce their nitrogen leaching, says Federated Farmers president Bruce Wills.

They would have no other alternative, he said in an interview to mark the end of his three-year term."

Go Bruce!

Dead cows could affect election

Federated Farmers' dairy chairman Willy Leferink is advising farmers to keep hidden the carcasses of dead animals so as not to influence the coming election, according to this report.

Kinda sick, isn't it.

Bed-wetters and the farmers' union

A letter in the current Straight Furrow cites a speech from Lord Christopher Monckton where he calls those who accept that anthropogenic climate change is a reality, "bed-wetters".
Monckton is presently touring New Zealand and is supported by the farmers' union, Federated Farmers.
They should be ashamed of themselves. I'm thinking too, of those people who wet their beds, against their own wishes, being used in a derogatory way. It's a disgraceful thing to say, especially coming from someone claiming to be a Lord, and to being intelligent.

Federated Farmers need to own their shit

Gareth Morgan chooses a blunt title for his post on Conor English's excuse-making around farm-created pollution.
Morgan says:

"The problem with Conor English is that he stubbornly refuses to answer the charge that Fed Farmers think that it is a birthright for its members to vandalise the environment and smash the rights of others, all for the pursuit of profit."

That's putting it out there, Gareth! Our local Feds are going to be squirming when they read that! Morgan goes on:

" That’s the issue here and as the dairy herd increases from 2 to 4.5 million and ever upwards, this constraint will enforce a change in farming practice. If you want more cows and you’re not allowed to impact the waterways with their presence, then you need to change practices. Connor English does not accept this, he argues farmers should be allowed to raise their pollution in line with their herd size. There is no logic to his lobby group challenging the Environment Court otherwise. Conor’s form of guardianship is not quite the kaitiakitanga that preceded industrial farming."

Mr Morgan sums up the National Government's (I call them the John Key/John Banks Government) position on this with:

" It’s noticeable that National are pulling back from siding with Fish and Game and conservationists challenging Fed Farmers through the Courts on this issue now, and instead are switching sides as the raw reality of rural politics is brought to bear on the Conservation Minister.
This fits with National’s demolition of the ETS, withdrawal from Kyoto and Steven Joyce’s championing of GDP growth founded on continued destruction of natural assets. We truly have stepped back to a conservative, non-progressive government."

And here, in big text, the nub of the issue:

" Let’s repeat it. If Fed Farmers’ view was that you can’t despoil the environment for others in your pursuit of personal gain, it would not be squealing and saying the Environment Court is raising the barrier too high in terms of what pollution is acceptable. No more pollution is acceptable so it doesn’t matter how high the hurdle is."

Questioning Mr Wills

Bruce Wills, president of Federated Farmers has been outspoken lately on a number of issues. I'm drawn to take issue with him on many of the claims he has made and have a letter to the editor in the queue right now, asking about his supposed powers of clairvoyance and love for genetic engineering, but in the meantime, I'm thinking about a couple of things Bruce said recently:

“Yes biological emissions account for some 47 percent of New Zealand’s emissions profile. They also represent 68.1 percent of our merchandise exports and indeed, 100 percent of the food we eat. "

I've always thought that we import a percentage of the food we eat. Have I got this wrong, or is Bruce correct with his 100% claim?
I've not seen the local rice paddies, banana plantations and Brazilnut groves to which Bruce alludes.




“New Zealand is able to not only feed itself, but produces enough food to feed populations equivalent of Sri Lanka"

Do we feed ourselves with what we produce here? See above. And do we really only export enough food to feed the Sri Lankans? That's a mere blip (no offense intended, my Sri Lankan readers). I am regularly given the impression/ hear the claim that our farmers are 'feeding the world'?
Bruce is using a very broad brush here, to paint a glowing picture of farming in New Zealand.

Bruce's crystal ball

Surprise, surprise! The Federated Farmers see genetic modification as an 'enormous opportunity' "The world is hungry and growing." says the Fed's president Bruce Wills, and he wants to see, says he does see, in his magic ball, genetic engineering feeding the starving of the world. "So long as we don't trip ourselves up environmentally." Oh,yes!
That the president of Federated Farmers is using a crystal ball to predict the future of New Zealand farming is bad enough, but for him to be seeing genetic engineering as the solution, is enough for some to dismiss Bruce as a dangerous crank. He's dressed his desire for the globally-loathed 'scienceing-up' of food though, by using the word 'green'. This will be a 'second green revolution', he declares in his Southland Times article today, that will 'supercharge agriculture'.
Mr Wills was expected to bring  fresh, intelligent leadership to the Federation. These latest comments; his liking for the potentially ruinous use of genetic engineering in New Zealand and his fondness for his fortune telling with a crystal ball, prove otherwise.
No doubt Fonterra's top men, buoyed by Bruces powers of clairvoyance will announce shortly, their excited intention to introduce a super-duper, high-performing,save-the-world genetically-engineered pasture grass into New Zealand, which will, as per Bruce's crystal ball, save us and the planet in one terribly clever move!

Federated Farmers call to double Councillors' pay

It was a very interesting submission from the federation's Doug Fraser in the ES boardroom yesterday. As always, we greatly value submissions but I found Doug's especially encouraging where he called for a doubling of Councillor's remuneration! I'd decline a pay rise of that magnitude of course, but felt flattered that the Federated Farmers valued my work, and that of my fellow Councillors so highly as to support such a generous increase.
You just never quite know what the Feds are thinking!
Shaun Yeo, Southland Times embedded cartoonist, made a lovely job of summing up Doug's other main point; that the Council should be reduced to a team of 6. From the gleam in Doug's eye, I could tell that I was a shoe-in :-)

Shadders wades in

And so do I.

Feds president showed courage

I was in the room when Federated Farmers members booed their president and then walked out when he said he supported Environment Southland's new dairy rule.

  They were wrong to do that, in my opinion.

  Mr Gardyne began his presentation by saying he was surprised that dairy farmers were at the meeting to oppose a new policy that would "secure their future, and improve the community perception of their industry."

  I don't think jeering and leaving the room before Mr Gardyne had a chance to have his say was a good way to give the federation the "moral authority" it had been hoping to gain from the meeting.

  I found his presentation to be balanced and reasonable and admired his courage.

ROBERT GUYTON

Riverton

"Disgraceful!"

That was my comment as the Farmers of the Federation turned their backs on their president, walked out as he began his address and booed when he said he supported the new rule.
Read the story here.

Rose sees red

Federated Farmers spokesperson David Rose makes some interesting claims in the Hot Topic column of last week's Fiordland Advocate. He levels his aim at 'some' councillors of Environment Southland and makes unsubstantiated claims about their ability to do the job they are elected for, and trained to do. Councillors, I can reliable inform you, undergo professional development to enable them to make good decisions, judgements that are informed by evidence and tempered with fair decision making process. The training is rigorous and time consuming, and results in a recognised high standard of unbiased decision-making, to the extent that training can do.
David Rose appears not to accept this and claims that some councillors 'want to act on emotion, not science' when deliberating on the problems Southland faces as a result of farming. He talks of Waituna and the serious issues the lagoon faces and how Environment Southland councillors plan to deal with those and the wider Southland issue of intensification of farming. Rose clearly favours some members of our council and says that 'part of the council wants to work with the community on a factual science-informed response', but goes on the smear the 'others' who are 'want to act on emotion, not science' and even worse it seems, to Rose anyway, these errant councillors who don't want to work with the community, who don't want to 'act on science', the emotional decision-makers, want to do it NOW! And what they want to do is MAKE RULES! This, it seems, is very bad, according to Rose's way of thinking.
How Mr Rose knows these details of councilor thinking is a puzzle. Has he been a fly on the wall at our meetings? Mr Rose has not been sitting in the public seating area during council meetings, so far as I have noticed, so he must be relying on second-hand opinion. He's very confident of his sources then, so willing is he to go public with his opinions.
Mr Rose makes another interesting claim. He says, "Federated Farmers have lobbied hard to have a process where farmers' input will be sought while considering the changes ." This puzzles me also. I've not been subject to hard lobbying from the Federated Farmers, either in the boardroom or in private so I'm wondering who has? Mr Rose may well have been lobbying other councillors, but I've seen neither hide nor hair of him. I'll ask tomorrow, who it is that's had the pleasure of his lobbying and I'm guessing, that of his brothers in arms. 
I often hear about the need for all parties involved in the management of Southland's resources to work collaboratively, sing from the same song-sheet and get together around the same table. Federated Farmers' Mr Rose, who should know better, seems determined to take pot-shots from afar, create division and mistrust and subvert the good-faith process. A cynic might wonder if Mr Rose is simply trying to derail the process that's under way to protect Southland's environment and thereby it's economy, from harm, by delaying or even preventing the regional council from doing its job. I suspect that's something that the majority of Southlanders won't look favourably upon.

Letters I like

This letter from a P. Clifford of Invercargill in today's Southland Times is the kind that makes me feel that there are many people in our community that know what democracy is all about. Titled 'Preconceived ideas' slur is laughable' by the Times, the letter says:
"So the former head of Environment Southland is concerned that Cr Robert Guyton may have had some preconceived ideas on the environment before he was voted in?
  Laughable.
  Doesn't he realise that's why I and many others voted for him in the first place?
  Does anyone think maybe that Stuart Collie had his own preconceived ideas when he was voted in considering his former background in the farming lobby group Federated Farmers?
  Look at the state of our environment and ask yourself just what kind of job he did when he was running the show.
  I say we need more like Robert."

That's a very encouraging letter, both at a personal level and where it shows that people are looking to see what really is happening in their own backyards and not just accepting the assurances of those who have been elected to plum positions. In saying that, I'll post all letters that come in on the subject and expect that there will be some that don't echo P.Clifford's and present a different view. That's what it's all about!

Fence-posts Feds

Comments made by Federated Farmers' chairman Don Nicolson on CUE TV about the Waituna Lagoon reveal the serious disconnect from reality he and his federation of farmers suffer.

His denial of the obvious and refusal to accept the science around the state of the lagoon make sensible people cringe. Bluntly defending the actions of his 'team' and deflecting the blame 'somewhere else' isn't going to save the lagoon from ruination. A man in his position should show leadership other than than being the first to duck for cover.

Calling the Feds!

There are many people in the community who find the tactics used by the Federated Farmers 'blunt' and 'simplistic' to put it politely. 'Bull-at-a-gate' seems to be a common summation of the approach taken by the Feds to many issues.
The comment below was made by a visitor to this blog earlier today and resulted from a post that described the Southern Branch of the Feds calling for a peer review of the science thus far collected re Waituna Lagoon. With the author's kind permission, I've dragged it out into 'front of house' to see if it resonates with other readers. If it does, or if you disagree with Piwakawaka's view, you are very welcome to put in your two cents worth.

The refusal to accept science, and to challenge it is a tactic long-used by NZ's commercial fishing industry - and this is no different from the Feds.

I have worked alongside the feds for many years through a variety of issues and topics, and the constant vitriol, attacks, lies and aggression have staggered me, and frankly, no longer surprise me. I also have many farmer friends who refuse to join them, because of their dinosaur-like attitudes to the environment. It's no wonder their membership is dropping.

So tell me, how come the Feds, with a mere 20 000 members get so much airplay and 'power', when an outfit like Forest & Bird with 70 000 members has to push hard to even be heard?

Don't sell!

Most New Zealanders are unhappy about overseas investors buying local farmland, according to the poll described in your article about foreign ownership of our farms (Thurs 8).
Most women are opposed to selling farmland to foreigners, it says.
Most men are against the sales.
Most Maori are opposed to the selling of our land.
South Islanders in particular are strongly against the selling of NZ farms to overseas buyers.
Very wealthy New Zealanders went against the views of most of us and said they supported selling our farms to foreigners.
Federated Farmers chairman Don Nicolson said that the results of the poll pleased Federated Farmers.
He praised New Zealanders for having a ‘realistic compass’ when it comes to the investment market.
It clearly looks like we don’t want to sell our farms to foreign buyers.
That’s very encouraging to hear.

Selling the farm

"Most New Zealanders have a pretty realistic compass on the New Zealand investment market" says Federated farmers chairman Don Nicolson, when shown a poll that reveals that 40% of New Zealanders are happy for overseas investors to buy local farmland.

I mull over Nicolsons statement.

I have strong reservations about it's truth.

"The poll of 500 people aged 15 was conducted by telephone" (This must be misreporting, surely!)

"Respondents were asked whether they believed overseas-owned businesses should be able to buy or invest in New Zealand farms or farmland"
(That seems like two questions right there Mr poll-writer! Invest or buy - which is it? Seems it's convenient to blend the two terms in the minds of ordinary New Zealanders)

The article begins;
"More than 40 per cent of New Zealanders are happy for overseas investors to buy local farmland - a level of support that has pleased Federated Farmers".
(Federated Farmers are pleased that New Zealanders support the selling of NZ farms to off-shore buyers?
That's a sad situation for us all to be in)

That's as dodgy as it gets, in my book!

Feds advise voters

Odd, it seems to me, that the Federated Farmers has been given/have taken the prime Opinion spot in the Southland Times to give advice to Southland voters regarding the up-coming elections.
What a convenient platform for them, through Rod Pemberton, Federated Farmers Southland president, to espouse their farmer-friendly views!
Mr Pemberton devotes some of his article to praising the Government for their dismissal of Ecan and warns that other regional councils should consider that action carefully. He also warns councils that rural ratepayers money is not 'an endless supply of money to fund councils dreams'.
He says:
" Councillors need to remember that they are there to represent their constituents through leading efficient organisations that focus on deliverables rather than appearence, a council that is focused on fact, not emotion."

He tidies up his stern warning to voters and candidates alike by saying,
"It's so important that we ensure Southland is represented by the right people ..."
I did laugh.