Another problem for Fonterra

School children, reportedly, don't like their milk!
Fonterra's move to become as beloved to the New Zealand public as the All Blacks are, is misfiring. Their 'free milk to schools' is fizzing out, according to this story in the Sunday Star Times this morning.

" Free milk has left a sour taste in the mouths of some of Northland's schools and a large numbers of their students have dropped out of the pilot programme which was launched on March 19.
After an enthusiastic take-up, some schools have seen nearly a 90 per cent decline in the number of kids receiving milk each day, with many blaming the taste of the ultra heat treated (UHT) milk.
"The kids wrote letters to Fonterra thanking them for the milk, but fewer were drinking it because of the taste it left in their mouth," said Dave Bradley, Wellsford School principal.
The school said half the 240 children initially drinking the milk have opted out.
At Kaiwaka nearly 70 of the school's 86 children were drinking the milk. It is now down to 10.
"I am beginning to wonder if kids are so used to sugar that they don't want to drink milk anymore," said principal Barbara Bronlund.

Milk in the river

Similar situation, China

Milk is regarded, quite rightly, as an environmental pollutant and milk spills  attract pollution response teams quickly. This morning's Fonterra milk tanker crash has resulted in most, if not all, of the contents of the tanker entering the Mataura river. That's a lot of milk, between 12, 000 and 15, 000 litres.  The response team, in this instance the Fire Brigade, were unable to contain the milk, which traveled by drain, straight to the river. We are informed that the state of the Mataura river, it's been in flood, is a good thing, in that it will have diluted the milk and reduced its impact on the environment.
It will be very interesting to see how prominently this truck crash and milk spill feature in Monday's Southland Times given Fonterra's expressed desire to be 'loved' by the public.

Fonterra stretches it, gets slapped.

"Fonterra milked the benefits of dairy products a drop too far and will make changes to its website following a complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority.

The complainant said five claims on Fonterra's website about the nutritional benefits of dairy products were factually untrue - including that dairy is an "essential part of a balanced diet" and "we all need it".


You Fonterra advertising scally-wags! Lying to the New Zealand public!

You'll never get us to think of you with the same admiration we have for the All Blacks if you carry on like this!

Read the full article here (hat-tip, Temperence Terry)

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!

A few paddocks short

Fonterra chief executive Theo Spierings should talk with Bill English and John Key about their plans to sell our energy assets, as soon as possible.
He has some great ideas.
He said recently,
"Our farmers know it does not make sense to reduce their financial exposure by selling off a few paddocks from their farm."

The Celebration of the Cow

Today we learn that there are now over 6 million cows in New Zealand. If you've ever stood, as I did yesterday, behind a cow as it's evacuating it's bowels and bladder, you'll be feeling rather anxious at the news that cow numbers have reach those dizzying heights and will feel worse when you consider the dairy industry's plan to rack up those numbers considerably in pursuit of more production.
Jordan Wyatt at Coexisting with Nonhuman Animals too, is considering the lot of cows with this post in which he examines the celebrations of his local supermarket. I've taken, unbidden, his photo to illustrate this indicative post and he'll doubtless notify me if he thinks I've transgressed on his intellectual property.

GE pastures letter - Southland Times

Our Southland landscape is largely covered in pasture grasses, an enormous 'green' that generates wealth for our region. It would be a tragedy for our dairy, beef and wool industries if that broad pasture became contaminated. The introduction of genetically-engineered grasses would rob us of our clean, grass-fed, global- market advantage. Southland farmers should guard against the incursion of g.e. pasture grasses currently being field-trialled in Australia with the financial support of Fonterra. Our good quality Southland pastures are worth protecting from the bio-tech industries that seek to spread their products across the globe.

On the Cust

Saving the lagoon

And so the tumult and the shouting die while the people take time to consider. In the meantime, what of Waituna?
  The last report was that the catchment farmers had decided to go it alone, because they "know their land"., while DairyNZ, having found a scapegoat to let the rest of the industry off the hook, has swiftly moved off stage.
  The trouble, of course, is that most of the farmers don't "know the land" in this context. Most are new to intensive dairy farming and many are new to the catchment. Even with the best of intentions , it's hard to see them contributing too much to the health of the lagoon.
  Things have gone too far for that. There is a need for serious science and serious money beyond the reach of the individual farmer, and no sign whatever that the industry intends to supply either if it can help it. By its nature, Waituna was always going to be the bellwether for an intensive dairy system that had so many people worried.
  The industry, fixated by its self anointed title of "best in the world" and bouyed by Government support and monopoly, has only ever been interested in production.
  Downstream consequences have been left to take care of themselves, so if the industry won't take that responsibility, someone else must.
  That someone has to be Environment Southland.
  We have councillors who have grasped the nettle and skilled staff who know science.
  We owe them our support.

JOHN PUREY-CUST
Gore

John Purey-Cust on Waituna

I'm a great admirer of John's. He's been in the business for many years, knows farming, forestry and the lie of the land and he writes beautifully. Today, in the Southland Times, he says:

"Bryce Johnson (September 20) errs when he says that the declining state of the Waituna has only recently been noticed, last February. Alarm was being voiced much earlier than that, by anglers and lagoon neighbours as well as Environment Southland staff. It has also been a regular item on Southland Fish and Game agendas.
  The difference between then and now is simply one of regime; the then ES council took the view that landowners were to be persuaded, not instructed; now the new council, partly but not only persuaded by the state of Waituna, believes in action.
  I applaud that.
  The heart of the problem - and not just in New Zealand - is the increasing dependence on nitrogen fertilizers and the consequent move into what is, in may ways, hydroponics.
  The short-term advantage to the farmer is immediate and obvious. The disadvantage is that everything downstream becomes the system's toilet.
  The lagoon has become the toilet for the Waituna catchment.
  In contrast to most other catchments, where the issue is more complicated, the only polluter at Waituna is agriculture.
  It therefore becomes an ideal place for the development of safe farming systems.
  Do that, dairy industry, and the world will be grateful.
  Carry on as now in an indifferent and sulky silence and we will continue to trail the world. The forecast is of another 400,000 cows in Southland is not then a happy prospect.

JOHN PUREY-CUST
Gore

We're full!

Southland has full house of dairy farms - report
(Southland Times front-page story)

"Southland cannot handle any more dairy farms.
 A report detailing the state of the environment is due out next month and according to Environment Southland chief executive Ciaran Keogh the region cannot deal with any more effects from intensified farming."

That's a killer opening paragraph right there, reporter Scot MacKay! Perhaps that's why the story's not on-line.

I suspect that once teased out, the story will be that while present practices and the effects of those on the environment make the 'full-house' claim true, changes to those farming ways can allow for the expansion that Fonterra are banking on.
At least that's the message behind the article and Mr Keogh's headline-grabbing claim, in my opinion. He'll have curdled the milk in the coffee of the DairyNZ and Fonterra executives coffee this morning though - the hot-line to his office will be fizzing!
Many Southlanders will be satisfied with the first part of the story, and won't buy the 'we can squeeze more on if we tidy up our act' sub-plot. In fact, they'll likely think we passed the point of fullness long ago. Certainly the wounded Waituna Lagoon broadcasts that message loud and clear. Farmers though, are still adamant that there must be no limit to the number of cows! It's a collision-course situation, in my view, and already there are casualties. The report described in the article by Mr Keogh will be interpreted by many as sure proof that farming is destroying our rivers and lagoons and that while farmers and their agents are beginning to talk the talk, they ain't walking.
"The council has signalled the report is not good news for the region, but will provide a way forward to manage it", reporter Scott reports.
"In terms of runoff from farms we cannot handle any more, in fact in some areas we need to reduce it", Mr Keogh bravely states.
Good man.
We need to hear truth, not platitudes.

The ad they didn't want you to see

And you'll soon see why!
It's agitprop and going viral so I'll play my part.
Here's the link to the 'choke choke!' pro orangutan, anti Fonterra ad that will have you gagging.

Sir Henry Fonterra - revealed

Fonterra chairman Sir Henry van der Heyden has the in-calf cows on his Putaruru  farm induced - a practice that Fonterra says it doesn't support.

Asked why, Sir Henry said: "It's like many other farmers, it's about driving productivity. It's to get cows to produce milk over a longer period of the season, which is productivity."

Good grief.

Palm kernel pests

"PALM KERNEL imports are tracking higher than ever, despite continued biosecurity fears about the controversial dairy cow feed."

Aside from the shameful situation brought about by the purchase of palm kernel - that is the destruction of rainforest in order to make room for new, made-lucrative by-the-market (dairy farmers, especially in New Zealand), the number of organisms from ants to lizards that are arriving here amongst the palm kernel is a major fear - or should be, were it not for greed obscuring the danger.

"Lachlan McKenzie, Federated Farmers dairy spokesman said farmers wanted to lessen their dependence on palm kernel because its price fluctuated. "In the last drought, it went up to $400 a tonne."


Environmental concerns were "from within a small minority", he added."

Huge quantities of this material is arriving  in New Zealand and the amount is rapidly growing.
It's the problem that we dare not speak about because it points at Fonterra and their dairy farmers and they are sacrosanct, aren't they?

Fonterra in the rainforests

"A solitary excavator digging a canal to drain peatlands, on which a rainforest had recently stood. The area had been home to Sumatran tigers and orangutans, not to mention numerous small communities. The starkness of this image, showing man's ability to lay waste to the environment, was both powerful, and incredibly sad."

"Like many of you, we were shocked and outraged that New Zealand was supporting an environmental crime of such enormity."

"Just over a year after Fonterra's activities were first reported on, the dairy giant is now importing palm kernel in greater quantities than ever - it is likely that more than one million tonnes of palm kernel will be imported for Fonterra's farms this year. That is nearly a quarter of the global palm kernel trade!"

Read more 

and more

A little history

29 August 2006

New Vale Coal purchase agreed

Solid Energy New Zealand Ltd has reached a conditional agreement to purchase 100% of the privately-owned New Vale Coal Company Ltd, subject to Commerce Commission clearance. It is hoped that this will be obtained by the end of October.

New Vale, a long-established family owned business, operates the New Vale Mine which is located on the Waimumu lignite coal field in Eastern Southland. The mine produces more than 200,000 tonnes a year, supplying local industry including Fonterra's nearby Edendale Dairy factory.

Solid Energy plans to continue New Vale's mining operations and to retain the current workforce of 30 people. Both parties have briefed customers and other key stakeholders in the area.

For further information contact:

Vicki Blyth Bret Highsted

Communications Director General Manager

Solid Energy New Zealand Ltd New Vale Coal Company Ltd

Note to Editors:

Solid Energy currently owns and operates, in Southland, the Ohai Opencast Mine which currently produces about 180,000 tonnes per annum and is investigating the viability of reopening the former Mataura Opencast Mine to serve the South Island industrial market.

(Bret has served one term on the Gore District Council to date and is a candidate for this local body election)

Creepy

This is almost as disturbing as the theft of a baby's identity by Act Party thug David Garrett.

 Fonterra raises eyebrows with ad campaign

Despite knowing that the song they chose to play behind their 'Great Milk Run' ad was about some very unpleasant goings on in two American prisons, Fonterra used it anyway!


"A spokeswoman for Fonterra said the song was chosen because it had the right rhythm and tone for the advertisement."

The back-story is nasty. Don't read it if you have a delicate constitution (or if you've just poured milk on your cereal and are making ready to breakfast).

Monster trucks (on our roads)

Around the end of May 2010,  New Zealand's first High Productivity Motor Vehicle (HPMV)

permits were issued by the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) to two trucks owned by state-owned coal miner Solid Energy.

The permits allow the trucks to carry up to 50 tonne loads along the 60km route between New Vale Mine and *a customer in Edendale, Southland.

HPMV permits which came into effect on May 1, allow existing weight and dimensions rules for trucks to be amended to allow a new class of vehicle, called high productivity motor vehicles, to operate under a special H permit on specified routes, displaying H plates at all times.

We'll at least we'll know what hit us, or at least what it is that's chewing up our roads!

* Fonterra, in case you didn't catch it as it flew by.