As the Greens’ agriculture spokesperson I’ve been visiting farms regularly this year and I’ve written up my reflections on 18 of these visits. There’s great stuff going on down on the farm, and I thought it was time some of these stories got out. They include clever innovations, quality animal husbandry, excellent protection of waterways and biodiversity, reduced pesticide use, and lots of pride and pleasure in running a good farm.

I’m no stranger to gumboots, gorse and grumpy rams – I run my own farm with my husband in the Coromandel. But every farm I visited I found something new – new ideas, new inspiration and new friends.

So I think it is time New Zealanders heard more about the Good Farms Stories happening in their countryside – too often the focus gravitates to the issues of conflict, pollution or bad farming practice. But for every Crafar farm disaster there’s ten good farmers doing good stuff and I’m keen to highlight their stories, their experiences and their contribution to keeping New Zealand clean and green.

So tomorrow at 1pm I’ll launch the Greens’ Good Farm Stories initiative. You’ll find it off our homepage tomorrow.

Here’s a sample from a Horsham Downs dairy farm just north of Hamilton:

Jenny on the walkway around the lake

“When we started here, the ducks were in the water troughs and the cows were in the lake”, says Jenny.

None of the farm’s drains now discharge directly into the lake, but go through silt traps and then percolate through the wetland fringes of the lake. Now, the lake is covered with water fowl that don’t stray on to the farm because there is so much food for them in the restored habitat. The ducks stay on the lake, and the cows stay out of it.

Andrew and Jenny were prepared for a drop in production because of the five hectares no longer in grazing, but this has not occurred. The slower release of water into the lake means the pastures uphill dry out more slowly in the summer, and the silt captured from the traps and spread on the farm returns a number of minerals that improve fertility.

A key milestone [for the farm] was entering the Ballance Farm Environment Awards in 2004. While they didn’t win the main farm award, they won the restoration award. Andrew says they learned a lot, and shortly after were given the 2007 Green Ribbon rural sustainability award, by the Minister for the Environment. The encouragement this provided was very important.

Many thanks to Jenny and Andrew for their warm hospitality – and congratulations for taking a big step towards sustainability.

UPDATE: http://www.goodfarmstories.org.nz is live!