Bud on dairying

The to-ing and fro-ing in the 'letters' section of the Southland Times around dairying and rates has provoked some lively debate in the comments that follow the publication of our letters online. Most give dairying a good thrashing, but one 'Bud' is outspoken in his defense of the industry. This comment  from him/her is interesting and revealing:

"In order for any government agency to expand in size and power they need a crisis. For example it is nearly impossible for a police force to expand if the crime rate is dropping, and schools don't receive more funding when graduation rates and test scores are high. So there is a dairy boom, which is literally the economic saviour of not only Southland, but all New Zealand, and regulators have jumped on its back and sunk their claws in and are bleeding it to finance a new regulatory empire.

I will concede that intensification of any industry has a negative effect on the environment, but there is no place in the world more conducive to pastural dairy farming than Southland and that negative effect is minimal.'"

Bud believes that ES has cooked up a crisis in order to justify its own expansion.

That's a silly argument, Bud, if I might say so.

Bud concedes that the intensification of dairying, such as we are experiencing here in Southland, 'has a negative effect on the environment', but opposes an increase in rates from the industry to cover those.

Odd.

Does he/she believe the ordinary ratepayer should foot the bill, because they in some way (trickle-down', perhaps? Pleease!) benefit from dairying?

Bud gets even sillier, claiming that ES has 'sunk their claws in and are bleeding it'...

Arguments are lost with rhetoric like that, Bud. Mind you, yours was lost well before you employed those devices.

In order for any government agency to expand in size and power they need a crisis. For example it is nearly impossible for a police force to expand if the crime rate is dropping, and schools don't receive more funding when graduation rates and test scores are high. So there is a dairy boom, which is literally the economic saviour of not only Southland, but all New Zealand, and regulators have jumped on its back and sunk their claws in and are bleeding it to finance a new regulatory empire. 

I will concede that intensification of any industry has a negative effect on the environment, but there is no place in the world more conducive to pastural dairy farming than Southland and that negative effect is minimal.
For example it is nearly impossible for a police force to expand if the crime rate is dropping, and schools don't receive more funding when graduation rates and test scores are high. So there is a dairy boom, which is literally the economic saviour of not only Southland, but all New Zealand, and regulators have jumped on its back and sunk their claws in and are bleeding it to finance a new regulatory empire. 

I will concede that intensification of any industry has a negative effect on the environment, but there is no place in the world more conducive to pastural dairy farming than Southland and that negative effect is minimal.
For example it is nearly impossible for a police force to expand if the crime rate is dropping, and schools don't receive more funding when graduation rates and test scores are high. So there is a dairy boom, which is literally the economic saviour of not only Southland, but all New Zealand, and regulators have jumped on its back and sunk their claws in and are bleeding it to finance a new regulatory empire. 

I will concede that intensification of any industry has a negative effect on the environment, but there is no place in the world more conducive to pastural dairy farming than Southland and that negative effect is minimal.