dairy Archive

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  Reports a reminder of need for action on freshwater - by frog

  
  
  
  Two important studies revealing the state of our freshwater came out last week, and the news is disappointing. The first comes from NIWA, and updates water quality trends at the 77 National River Water Quality Network sites, which have been monitored over the last 20 years. The study confirmed that waterways flowing through farmland have [...] read more
  June 25, 2009 3:40 pm - 5 Comments
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  100% Pure ‘Clean Green’ GE llamas? Um, no. - by Jeanette Fitzsimons

  
  
  
  Just over a week ago, the High Court ruled that ERMA breached the law in accepting applications from AgResearch to import and experiment on a range of genetically modified animals. I described the application at the time it was lodged as: A huge application to genetically engineer a wide range of animals, plus human and [...] read more
  June 17, 2009 9:21 am - 4 Comments
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  A bouquet to the Bay - by frog

  
  
  
  Hawke’s Bay has come up with a solution to one of the main sources of pollution in the scenic and popular Tukituki River. Two months ago I highlighted some photos of Tukituki algae blooms on the Baybuzz blog, noting that: The slime is associated with low flows due to over-allocation of the water during summer drought flows, [...] read more
  June 16, 2009 7:36 pm - 7 Comments
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  Greens riskily agree with the Feds - by frog

  
  
  
  Federated Farmers’ press release just now – Move over shark wranglers, farming’s far riskier – is something the Greens can agree with. Farm related fatalities  have grown over the past five years to 20 and that is too many. The Feds also acknowledge the economic loss of farm accidents, citing “ACC statistics show that a [...] read more
  May 13, 2009 2:00 pm - 1 Comment
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  The water crisis – a sequel - by frog

  
  
  
  Water pollution comes from other sources beside dairy (see post last night), so a broader solution is needed, than just best-practice and full compliance from the dairy industry. NZ also needs a basic standard for water quality that says all water must be swimmable, and if it isn’t at the moment, then it needs to [...] read more
  May 10, 2009 11:00 am - 57 Comments
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  Nice words, but where’s the action? - by frog

  
  
  
  The release of a Strategy for New Zealand Dairy Farming slipped quietly under the public’s radar this week, with few media picking it up. At the Strategy launch, the PM and Ag Minister David Carter mooed in the direction of the environment: the PM said, “It is important that farmers step up and take leadership [...] read more
  May 9, 2009 8:05 pm - 6 Comments
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  Hats off to good farming at Landcorp - by Russel Norman

  
  
  
  Here’s some good news on dairy farming and a doff of the cap to the SOE Landcorp and its farm managers. We recently asked Landcorp how it was doing with compliance on effluent consents.  Their General Secretary informs us that they had one infringement notice in 2008 and two in 2007. Landcorp has 37 dairy farms, so its [...] read more
  April 16, 2009 3:06 pm - 5 Comments
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  Kevin Hague questions the Minister of Agriculture - by frog

  
  
  
  Green Party MP Kevin Hague asks the Minister of Agriculture: Has the Dairying and Clean Streams Accord achieved its aim of “clean, healthy water including streams, rivers, lakes, groundwater, and wetlands in dairying areas”; or, does he agree with National MP Nick Smith’s statement of October 2008 that there has been a “deterioration in water [...] read more
  March 16, 2009 4:57 pm - 21 Comments
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  Wet bus tickets OR Clean Streams - by Russel Norman

  
  
  
  The latest compliance figures on the Clean Streams Accord are due out on Thursday. Fonterra, in an attempt to front foot the issue – hinting that the Accord report will be bad news – has released a proposal to penalise non-compliant farmers a $3000 fine. It’s simply ‘a wet bus ticket’ approach to dealing with [...] read more
  March 9, 2009 11:28 am - 8 Comments
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  Twenty years of pollution - by Russel Norman

  
  
  
  NIWA have put out a release summarising the trends from 20 years of monitoring river water quality. The National Rivers Water Quality Network collects data from 77 sites across the country. The dataset they have is the longest and most wide reaching water quality data set in the country. What is shows is not a [...] read more
  February 2, 2009 5:06 pm - 4 Comments
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  Mataura River fecal load dangerously high in Gore - by Russel Norman

  
  
  
  I wrote on Friday about the current situation in Gore regarding water supplies – ie that industrial dairy has sucked so much water out of the aquifers that Gore is short of water and restrictions are in place. So I thought I would check out the situation with the Mataura River at Gore – after [...] read more
  February 1, 2009 12:15 am - 4 Comments
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  Greenpeace’s activism reminds us about the big issue - by frog

  
  
  
  Greenpeace activists have this morning temporarily halted a massive conversion of forest land to dairy farming in Tokoroa, locking on to forest logging equipment and using rotary hoes to plough 5m-high letters reading ‘climate crime’ into fresh pasture. The call for a halt to forest conversion for intensive dairy in light of the worsening global [...] read more
  October 29, 2008 12:46 pm - 28 Comments
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  Dirty dairying - by frog

  
  
  
  The Minister for the Environment, Trevor Mallard, was not in a very talkative mood this afternoon.   Russel asked him during question time if he was concerned that dirty dairying in New Zealand is now “gaining international notoriety�?, as stated in Rural News on 29 August; if so, does he agree with comments in Rural [...] read more
  September 11, 2008 9:36 pm - 8 Comments
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  More palm oil for our cows, less rainforest for our future - by frog

  
  
  
  NZPA noted yesterday that the Port of Napier has reported its first shipment of bulk palm kernel. You may remember Russel exposed the palm cake industry earlier this year. Imports of palm kernel cake have increased a thousand-fold in order to feed NZ’s rapidly expanding industrial dairy industry. To grow palm oil cake Malaysia, Papua [...] read more
  September 10, 2008 1:22 pm - 18 Comments
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  Dairy Manager of the Year Convicted with Record Environmental Fine - by frog

  
  
  
  A record fine has been handed down by the Environment Court in Napier for the breach of a resource consent. What is so heartbreaking is that the fine goes to the Dairy Manager of the Year, someone who is being celebrated within the dairy industry for ‘success’. Clearly success in this context means maximum profits [...] read more
  August 2, 2008 5:02 pm - 10 Comments
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  Carbon neutral cows - by frog

  
  
  
  Gareth Renowden’s Hot Topic blog traces the increasingly bizarre claim from climate science deniers (sorry, doubters) that cows are carbon neutral.  He begins noting an organisation called the “Carbon Sense Coalition” (the name says it all) is covering its own earlier pronouncement that that ‘cows are green’ because they store carbon: Methane breaks down to [...] read more
  July 2, 2008 11:14 am - 38 Comments
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  Stolen water - by frog

  
  
  
  Frank Brenmuhl, chairperson of the Dairy Section of Federated Farmers, has just given his AGM speech in which he bemoans that attacks that he perceives dairy farmers face from the Greens and other environmentalists.  The basis of his defence is very Rousseau-ian: The physical resources that we use, to produce food is what we have [...] read more
  June 24, 2008 1:04 pm - 4 Comments
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  Agriculture MoU (Mooo) - by Jeanette Fitzsimons

  
  
  
  Today I questioned the Government about its 2003 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the agriculture sector. The Government has claimed in the past that this MOU prevents it from bringing agriculture into the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) prior to 2013, however, the answers to my questions revealed a different situation altogether: 1. I asked if [...] read more
  June 18, 2008 6:59 pm - 12 Comments
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  Bread and cereals consume more of the grocery budget - by frog

  
  
  
  Stats New Zealand has just released its monthly Food Price Index and the key stat is that food prices are up 6.8% over the year, still well ahead of inflation. While the Stats New Zealand release focuses on veges it’s important to note that vegetables were starting from a low base and are now returning [...] read more
  June 12, 2008 12:38 pm - 18 Comments
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  Crown cows - by frog

  
  
  
  I realised yesterday that I hadn’t yet highlighted the scandalous part of Russel’s investigations into water yet, so those of you who had not seen his speech or don’t follow rural media, such as the Farmers Weekly, may not be aware that a debate has been raging about the fact that Government’s fingerprints have been [...] read more
  June 12, 2008 9:54 am - 11 Comments