There are great things going on in rural New Zealand with some farmers proving that we can have both a healthy farming sector and a healthy environment.

One of the last things Jeanette Fitzsimons did before leaving Parliament was to put together a collection of good farm stories about improving animal health, protecting rivers and streams, reducing pesticide use, improving biodiversity, managing the soil, and protecting against drought.

The Good Farm Stories website features eighteen of the best examples of excellence in sustainable farming. Farmers from Otago, Canterbury, Wairarapa, Hawke’s Bay, Bay of Plenty and the Waikato are featured on the website.

Farmers have received a lot of bad publicity of late due to factory pig farming, polluted rivers and streams, and the proposal to farm cows in cubicles in the Mackenzie Country. This Green project helps balance a debate often dominated by a minority of farmers who are abusing the environment.

There is a good farm story for every ‘dirty dairy’ story that turns up in the papers. These good farmers are ambassadors for New Zealand’s clean, green brand.

You can find it here: www.goodfarmstories.org.nz

There’s a wealth of material, so grab a cup of tea and enjoy!

It’s very timely, given the headline of the DomPost today: “Manawatu River ‘among worst in the West’”. As Russel’s response notes, much of the pollution of the Manawatu comes from farming effluent, nutrient run-off, erosion and damage to tributaries that do not have fences and riparian strips. This photo was taken last year and shows an example of the problems.

Russel quite rightly says: “Many farmers are taking it upon themselves to improve the situation, but the large-scale changes we need to return the Manawatu to an acceptable level will require Government leadership.”

So the Greens are keen to highlight Good Farm Stories, shine a spotlight on pollution from all sources – Russel notes the contibution of industrial factories like Fonterra and Tui, and town sewage – and push the Government into action.

Because if we don’t, we’ll lose the ecology of our great rivers, the right of the public to enjoy them, our clean and green image and with it our export markets. So what are we waiting for?