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Dirty Dairying

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« on: March 18, 2011, 01:47:15 pm »


Dirty dairying shocker
By Laura Mills

A Whataroa farmer was yesterday hit by one of the largest fines in New Zealand history for dirty dairying. Potae and van der Poel Ltd was stung $120,000 for dairy effluent discharges, as a result of a West Coast Regional Council prosecution in court in Christchurch. It is the largest fine given to a West Coast farmer, and possibly the biggest in the country.

Mary-Anne Potae said this morning she was “still pretty much in shock” but accepted the decision and said they would not appeal.

The company was issued with abatement notices two years ago for dairy effluent discharges from three of their seven farms at Whataroa. Vickers Creek, and tributaries of the Whataroa River were affected.
However, the company did not comply with the abatement notices and the council took court action.

It pleaded guilty to eight charges.

Regional council consents and compliance manager Colin Dall said Judge Jane Borthwick told the court she considered the matter serious. The sharemilkers were dealt with separately but because of their inability to pay a fine, they each received sentences of 200 hours’ community service.
“She did an initial (fine) calculation, then pulled it back. The total was $120,000, the largest (farming) fine on the West Coast.”

Ms Potae said this morning her husband, Adrianus van der Poel, had farmed in the area for 25 years.

Lawyer Brian Burke said the couple had slowly added more farms since 1985 and now milked about 3000 cows in the Whataroa area. “It was a family operation and it got too big to manage. They fully accept that they let themselves down and caused harm to the environment.”
A consultant environmental engineer had been employed to put in systems to ensure it would never happen again, he said. Although the couple was shocked at the size of the fine, they thanked the court for pointing out their shortcomings and accepted the decision, he said.

Regional council chairman Ross Scarlett, a dairy farmer from Karamea, said the council had always had a conciliatory policy and an unwritten “three strikes and you’re out” rule.

“There comes a point where we have to take action. We’re not a draconian council. But we have to protect the reputation of farmers, and society as a whole demands quite high standards.”

Mr Dall said two more West Coast prosecutions were pending, although court dates had not been set. The company came to council attention because overflows from an effluent reservoir ran directly into a farm drain and on to Vickers Creek in high concentrations. Also, a stormwater bypass was left open so effluent reached an unnamed tributary of the Whataroa River in high concentrations.

Earlier this week, Oceana Gold pleaded guilty to breaching its resource consent by discharging sediment into Devils Creek, Reefton, in another West Coast Regional Council prosecution.

The Australian gold miner was directed to meet with the council in a restorative justice conference to find a favourable solution. The council has said it wants the company to restore the creek, which was left lifeless as a result of sediment discharges.

http://www.greystar.co.nz/node/96


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« Reply #1 on: March 19, 2011, 03:36:18 am »


Minister turns hose on dirty dairying
BY EMILY WATT
Last updated 05:00 19/03/2010

Agriculture Minister David Carter has lashed out at dirty dairy farmers over a report showing "totally unacceptable" levels of effluent management.

An audit of the industry shows an increasing rate of dairy farmers is failing to properly treat the toxic runoff from their land, which in turn poisons waterways and streams.

The issue continues to blight New Zealand's clean, green image, our ability to swim in our streams, and potentially tourism markets.

Dairy farming earned $9.9 billion in exports for the year to March 2008. Tourism earned $9.3b.

Last November, the British Guardian newspaper lambasted the country's green image in an article entitled "New Zealand was a friend to Middle Earth, but it's no friend of the earth" which criticised, among other things, the agricultural sector.

The same month, the Manawatu River was named one of the most polluted rivers in the Western World.

The Dairying and Clean Streams Accord report issued by the Agriculture and Forestry Ministry yesterday shows that while farmers are mostly doing well at keeping cows out of rivers and building bridges over waterways, their treatment of effluent wash-off has gone downhill.

The average level of significant non-compliance – which increases the risk of environmental harm – of effluent treatment rose from 12 per cent to 15 per cent in the past year. Compliance also dropped four points to 60 per cent.

Mr Carter, Fonterra and Federated Farmers describe the results as "totally unacceptable", "completely unacceptable", and "disappointing".

Mr Carter put polluting farmers on notice and called on regional councils to work harder at identifying farmers breaking the rules.

He warned of stronger regulations "to target those remaining farmers who blatantly pollute".

"You can argue the merits of dairy to our economy until the cows come home – but until every farmer takes responsibility for improving effluent management, the environment and dairying's reputation will suffer."

Dairy giant Fonterra said it would spend up to $3m and provide five more specialist staff to check every farm every year to force those not complying to meet standards.

Its trade and operations managing director, Gary Romano, said there were reasons for the decline in performance but no excuses. Increased monitoring meant more rule-breakers were being identified, and monitoring had been extended to feed pads and stock underpasses, not just farms as before.

Massey University scientist Mike Joy, director of the Centre for Freshwater Ecosystem Management and Modelling, said the failings in the report underestimated the real and growing impacts from dairying on the environment.

"The real question is: Is the accord working? Has there been any improvement in the state of rivers and streams? The answer is emphatically no and nor is there likely to be given the accord is too weak."

Federated Farmers dairy chairman Lachlan McKenzie insisted the report, while disappointing, showed the industry was open and accountable. "We mustn't lose sight of the fact that 85 per cent of dairy farmers are either fully compliant or guilty of no more than an administrative breach."

DAIRY REPORT CARD

The Dairying and Clean Streams Accord was signed in 2003 between Fonterra, the ministers of Agriculture and the Environment, and regional councils, and aims to minimise the negative impact of dairying on waterways.

It set targets to keep dairy cattle out of waterways, treat farm effluent, and manage the use of fertilisers and other nutrients.

Two out of the five targets have been met.

The rate of farms properly treating or discharging their dairy farm effluent dropped from 64 per cent to 60 per cent.

Regional rates varied from 39 per cent in Northland to 96 per cent in Taranaki.

Significant non-compliance (which would result in potential for environmental harm) increased from 12 to 15 per cent.

Farmers are mostly doing well at keeping cows out of rivers and building bridges over waterways.

Any farmer given an infringement notice or fined by a council is also fined by Fonterra, which then spends the money improving their farms.

Last year, the company threatened to stop collecting milk from 11 farms that were breaching the rules, and followed through on two of those threats.

- The Dominion Post

http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/3474039/Minister-turns-hose-on-dirty-dairying


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« Reply #2 on: March 19, 2011, 08:49:12 am »



David Carter17 March, 2011


Dairy farmers beginning to get the message on pollutionAgriculture Minister David Carter says dairy farmers are slowly taking heed of his challenge to lift their game when it comes to pollution.

Following today’s release of the annual Dairying and Clean Streams Accord Snapshot of Progress, Mr Carter says that while progress could be faster, the message is gradually getting through to those farmers who have struggled with effluent compliance, and are now looking to their industry bodies and regional councils for support

“For example, in Canterbury, the ‘Check it, fix it, get it right’ initiative has been working to provide information and advice to farmers on adopting good effluent management practices.

“In the 2009/10 dairy season, 59 percent of Canterbury dairy farms were fully compliant with their dairy-shed effluent discharge conditions, up from 43 percent in the previous season. Significant non-compliance fell to 8 percent from 19 percent in the previous season.

“This initiative is now being rolled out throughout the North Island, and Southland.

The 2009/10 Snapshot shows progress has been made on four of the five targets set by the Accord.

Mr Carter also notes that Fonterra’s Every Farm Every Year checks of effluent management expects to have about 1000 farms on remedial plans by the end of the current dairy season.

“It’s encouraging that many of those farmers did not wait to be checked, but got in touch with the co-operative to ask for the plan.

“While it can’t be directly attributed to those initiatives, Environment Waikato has reported that significant non-compliance has more than halved in the season-to-date, with just 11 percent of farmers in serious breach of regional planning rules.”

“There is now a good deal of education, training and technological innovation underway in the dairy sector, all aimed at maintaining productivity while reducing environmental impact,” says Mr Carter.

To view the full Snapshot report, click http://www.maf.govt.nz/agriculture/pastoral/dairy.aspx

http://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/dairy-farmers-beginning-get-message-pollution

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« Reply #3 on: March 19, 2011, 09:35:13 am »


Another rise in 'dirty dairying'
Sat, 19 Mar 2011
News: Farming


Dairy farmers are still meeting only two of the five targets set for them to avoid "dirty dairying" practices, government officials say.

Southland farmers are some of the worst offenders.

A snapshot of the latest progress under the Dairying and Clean Streams Accord between the Government, Fonterra and regional councils shows that farms have only reached or exceeded two of the five accord targets, the same overall progress as was recorded in the previous 2009 season.

The snapshot for the 2010 season measured dairy farmers' performance in meeting resource consent conditions, bridging waterways, excluding stock from streams and wetlands, and using nutrient management tools.

"A consistent effort by the accord partners is needed to improve farmer behaviour and farm system performance," Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry deputy director-general Paul Stocks said.

He said all the "easy wins" had been achieved and the sector was now "incrementally improving" .

Fonterra said yesterday that a slight increase over the 2010 season in significant non-compliance with regional council dairy effluent rules was "unacceptable".

Significant national non-compliance rose by 1 percentage point to 16%, despite considerable improvements in Northland, Auckland, Hawkes Bay, Wellington, Canterbury and Otago.

It was the second consecutive drop in performance: the previous annual snapshot showed non-compliance with regional council rules rose from 12% to 15% of farmers during the 2009 dairy season, when farmers in Northland had the worst results, with full compliance listed at 39% in the latest year, down from 43% in 2008.

This year, the worst compliance rate was in Southland (39%) and the best in Taranaki (96%).

Agriculture Minister David Carter said dairy farmers were "slowly taking heed" of his challenge to lift their game when it came to pollution.

"While progress could be faster, the message is gradually getting through to those farmers who have struggled with effluent compliance."

Mr Carter said Fonterra planned to have 1000 farms on remedial plans by the end of the season under its "every farm every year" checks of effluent management.

Fonterra's group director of supplier and external relations, Kelvin Wickham, said these checks were a concerted effort to address non-compliance by identifying farms at risk and ensuring remedial plans were put in place.

The co-operative's sustainable dairying advisers had completed 1188 consultations with farmers keen to ensure their on-farm effluent infrastructure was able to cope.

An industry body, DairyNZ - which also represents dairy companies other than Fonterra - said it had launched a "check it, fix it, get it right" campaign in Canterbury, and seen full compliance increased from 43% to 59%, and serious non-compliance drop from 19% to 8%.

http://www.odt.co.nz/news/farming/152473/another-rise-dirty-dairying
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« Reply #4 on: March 19, 2011, 09:38:16 am »

Fonterra's more than 3700 Waikato suppliers seem to be becoming better at keeping environmental rules, according to Environment Waikato chairman Peter Buckley.

A snapshot of progress on the Clean Streams Accord, out yesterday, shows a 7 per cent rise in significant non-compliance in the Waikato last dairying season, but latest  figures suggest a turnaround.
Significant non-compliance is dairy effluent  entering waterways, or being in danger of doing so.

Environment Waikato's recently released preliminary figures for this season show a 14 per cent drop in serious non-compliance in the Waikato.  ''I think [this season] should be a lot better,'' Mr Buckley said.

The Agriculture Ministry, Environment Ministry, Fonterra and Local Government New Zealand snapshot  shows just over half, or 1949, of Fonterra's Waikato suppliers were fully compliant with Environment Waikato's dairy effluent rules in the 2009/2010 dairy season, up from 41 per cent in the 2008/09 season and 48 per cent in the 2007/08 season.

Southland had the lowest number of full compliance, at 39 per cent, and the national average is 65 per cent.

Of those Fonterra farmers in the Waikato who did not comply, 27 per cent were significantly non-compliant, up from 20 per cent in 2008/09 and 10 per cent in 2007/2008.

Waikato had the highest level of non-compliance, according to the report, with Northland a close second at 24 per cent.

The national average rate of non-compliance is 16 per cent.

In an email to farmers yesterday, Fonterra chairman Sir Henry van der Heyden said the co-operative was making headway as 99 per cent of farms had nutrient budgets, preventing overapplication of effluent and fertiliser, and 85 per cent of livestock were excluded from waterways.

Meanwhile, plans for Environment Waikato's effluent expo at Mystery Creek, where farmers can get free effluent management advice, continue for March 29.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/farming/4782814/More-farmers-cleaning-up-their-act
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« Reply #5 on: March 25, 2011, 02:16:38 pm »


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« Reply #6 on: July 11, 2011, 02:02:38 pm »


Southern whitebait in jeopardy

Dairying blamed as four species on threatened list

By NICCI MCDOUGALL - The Southland Times | Monday, 11 July 2011

Whitebait in NZ
• Click on the image to download the full-size PDF file.

WHITEBAITING in the south is likely to decline further with four of the five species now listed as threatened in Southland.

In 2008, two whitebait species were on the threatened list but it now comprises the inanga, koaro, giant kokopu and the shortjaw kokopu. The banded kokopu has yet to be listed.

Two freshwater ecologists have blamed dairy farming as a main reason for the decline in the fishery throughout the country.

Senior freshwater ecologist Richard Allibone, of Dunedin, said whitebait was declining slowly across the country for several reasons, but agriculture was a major issue.

"The worse is gets, the worse it's going to be for the fish ..."

"Extinction is not likely within the next 50 years but they will become less common. Whitebait fishery is likely to decline," he said.

Massey University freshwater ecologist Mike Joy said whitebait fishing did not help, but agriculture was the biggest problem — "habitat loss and loss of spawning ground due to pollution".

Southland Department of Conservation freshwater technical support officer Andy Hicks said there were several reasons for the decline of whitebait numbers and why they were on the threatened species list. "Wetland drainage, river habitat modification and water quality issues related to widespread land use change are likely causes for whitebait decline in Southland. Introduced fish such as trout, and over-fishing by whitebaiters, are other factors that may have led to their widespread decline," he said.

Whitebait seem to be dropping out of areas they used to be found in commonly, he said.

"People used to be able to scoop whitebait out of rivers with buckets and use it as fertiliser but those days are long gone. It is a fraction of what it used to be. Whitebaiters say that nowadays it's a struggle to catch a tonne," he said.

"Losing whitebait means a reduction in native biodiversity, and also the loss of a major recreational fishing activity. There is a high possibility of restoring the numbers back but we need to invest in research and appropriate conservation measures," Mr Hicks said.

Whitebaiter Ian Walker, who fishes on the Waihopai and Oreti rivers, said last year was one of the worst seasons he'd had and he took home about 4-5 kilograms.

Mr Walker, who has been whitebaiting since he was 10, said he gave up a month before closing.

"It was a waste of time."

The whitebait caught last year was much smaller than normal, he said.

Environment Southland chief executive Ciaran Keogh said there was no doubt there had been a whitebait reduction through habitat degradation and the problem had been acknowledged for a while.

Environment Southland was taking steps to counter the problem, including the Clean Stream Accord and riparian fencing.

Southland Recreational Whitebaiters Association president Brett Pearce said that while it was accepted recent whitebait seasons had not been great, the whitebait were still there and the fishery was still viable.

Whitebaiter Ian McCracken, who fishes the Waiau River, said thanks to habitat ponds installed on the river, there did not appear to be a problem on the Waiau.

The threatened species list is recorded in the New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research, and will be reviewed by an independent panel again next year.

The whitebait season begins on August 15 and closes at the end of November.


http://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/news/5259506/Southern-whitebait-in-jeopardy
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« Reply #7 on: June 26, 2012, 05:18:48 pm »





(click on the cartoon to read the news story)
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« Reply #8 on: November 21, 2013, 11:11:25 am »


Water to deteriorate as dairy booms

By OLIVIA WANNAN - The Dominion Post | 9:55AM - Thursday, 21 November 2013



ALREADY choked with weeds and algae, waterways will get even worse as the dairy industry continues to boom, the Environment Commissioner says.

Poor water quality is caused by the run-off of nutrients from farm land, which breeds invasive weeds, slime and potentially toxic algal blooms. Last summer toxic blooms in the Hutt River killed several dogs.

A new report projecting what the country's land use will be in 2020 said the environmental problems were only going to get worse, particularly in the lower South Island and Wellington.

The research, a collaboration between the National Institute for Water and Atmospheric Research and Motu Economic and Public Policy Research, found the popularity of dairying would increase with rising global milk prices.

In 2020, almost 400,000 hectares of beef or sheep farming land would be converted into dairy farms, according to the country-wide modelling.

Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment Jan Wright said studies showed more nutrients ran off land after it was converted to dairying than when used as pasture for sheep or beef cattle.

"Generally, stocking rates are higher on dairy farms these days and they've been getting higher and higher," she said.

The two concerning nutrients were nitrogen, typically from cows' urine, and phosphorus in the soil. When both washed into fresh water, there was an increased risk of unchecked plant growth clogging lakes and rivers, interfering with the food chain of fish and birds, and forcing the closure of popular swimming spots.

"Rivers that are warm and flow slowly and wind around are more vulnerable [as are] lakes that are shallow and warm," Wright said.

The modelling predicted that by 2020 there would be a large increase in nitrogen run-off in Canterbury, Otago, Southland and Wellington. They were all areas where farmers were frequently switching to dairy farming. Gisborne however would have decreased run-off.

Wright said she hoped the report would inform national and local government water quality policies and improve the practices of individual farms.

IrrigationNZ CEO Andrew Curtis said the report failed to take into account recent innovations in land-use management.

"We've already seen the introduction of farm-specific environment plans. By identifying the environmental risks on farm and requiring actions to manage these, the plans hold farmers accountable."

But DairyNZ environment policy manager Mike Scarsbrook said the report failed to take into account a number of factors such as regulated water nutrient limits in some areas.

"The uncontrolled growth of dairy farms put out in the report isn't likely to play out as it's been painted," he said.

Scarsbrook said nutrient limits set by the community, such as those on the Manawatu River, were a great tool for managing water quality.

New Zealand Freshwater Sciences Society president David Hamilton said the report stressed the dangers the business-as-usual approach could have on waterways.

"Best agricultural practice has to become the norm," the University of Waikato professor said.

"We also need to have a long-term vision about what sort of land use is appropriate according to the sensitivity of the receiving waters."

Forest and Bird advocate Kevin Hackwell said the projections indicated swimming and fishing in many of the country's lakes and rivers could become a thing of the past.

"The government needs to accept that spending $400 million on building irrigation schemes like the one planned for Ruataniwha is only going to make things worse."

Resource consent should be required to start dairying, where nearby waterways were close to or beyond acceptable pollution limits, he said.


• Download the full report from HERE (4:54MB PDF document)

http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/9425267/Water-to-deteriorate-as-dairy-booms
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« Reply #9 on: November 24, 2013, 12:49:43 pm »



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« Reply #10 on: November 24, 2013, 03:15:40 pm »

It strikes me that dairying is quite lucrative at the moment. A good time for farmers to invest in the infrastructure/systems to ensure the continuation of the dairy industry's earning, including waste and effluent systems that actually work.
My own experience is that a lot of waterways were rivers of shit when I was a teenager and I see them much cleaner now but there was a bit less dairying going on then compared to now and a lot of the more remote areas were given over to dry stock which puts less pressure on waterways and generally allows for scrubby gullies which add some protection. Dairy has crept back into a lot of these more marginal regions now.
Seeing cleaner rivers near towns shouldn't make for complacency.
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« Reply #11 on: November 24, 2013, 08:54:53 pm »

Just cause it looks clean doesn't mean it is.
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« Reply #12 on: November 25, 2013, 06:21:39 am »

Just cause it looks clean doesn't mean it is.

So right.  Sad

Meanwhile, in my neck of the woods ---

Algal bloom affecting Lake Waihola worsens
Home » News » Regions
By Rebecca Fox on Fri, 1 Nov 2013

The potentially toxic algal bloom affecting Lake Waihola is getting worse and could be there for the summer.

''The lake is very bright green,'' Otago Regional Council environmental information and science director John Threlfall said.

The regional council issued warnings last week for users to be aware of the alga, which could cause allergic reactions in people or animals if it touched skin or was ingested.

It occurred naturally in a variety of water conditions and belonged to the cyanobacteria group of algae. It had the potential to produce a series of toxins that were passed to the water.

Further sampling at the lake this week had shown the bloom had worsened. It was also still present at Tomahawk Lagoon.

The Cawthron Institute in Nelson was analysing samples taken from both blooms to determine their toxicity. The results should be available in about a week.

However, despite not knowing exactly how toxic the blue-green alga was, given the level of its growth, it was believed it could still cause a reaction if it touched skin, he said.

Lake Waihola was affected by the alga last summer but not to the same extent. About 10 years ago, it was also affected extensively.

''It is concerning for locals and we don't know how long it will last,'' Mr Threlfall said.

It was possible the bloom could continue in the lake for the rest of the summer, although a change in weather might reduce its impact for a while, he said.

''If it gets windy and cooler, it might do something, but it will still be around.''

Public health officials warned people swimming in areas with algal bloom could develop allergic reactions but it depended on the concentration of the toxins.

Fishermen and boat users should also exercise caution and dog owners should ensure their animals did not enter the water.

- rebecca.fox@odt.co.nz

http://www.odt.co.nz/regions/otago/279328/algal-bloom-affecting-lake-waihola-worsens



Levels of toxic algae fall
Sat, 23 Nov 2013
News: Dunedin

  Waihola businesses were told by the Otago Regional Council yesterday that toxic algae levels from a recent bloom have declined to safe levels. ...

http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/282681/levels-toxic-algae-fall




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« Reply #13 on: December 01, 2013, 02:49:18 pm »


Up-river from Nitpicker's place....




     (greedy, selfish dairy farmers literally shitting on those poor unfortunates who live down-river)

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« Reply #14 on: December 01, 2013, 05:05:24 pm »

re reply #13:

Yeahbut are they beefies or dairy?

...Anglers from Allanton say all cattle, not just dairy cows, should be kept out of the Taieri River, but a council ruling says all livestock can access the waterway.

Allanton resident Peter Cochrane (60) said beef cattle were pugging the river bank and polluting the waterway with effluent, but they were not included in Otago Regional Council (ORC) rulings.

An Allanton farmer had put 20 beef cattle in a paddock so they could access the Taieri River from November to February, he said.

However, when he called the ORC about the beasts in the river, he was told beef cattle were allowed in the river but dairy cattle were not, he said.

Allanton resident Mike McMillan (50) said he also called the council about the ongoing issue of beef cattle ''fouling'' the Taieri River.

He had called the regional council about beef cattle in the river before but was told that because the cattle were not dairy cows, there was no issue. ...

more at http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/244795/anglers-oppose-cattle-access-taieri-river

dunno whether that "rule" was changed. 

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« Reply #15 on: December 01, 2013, 05:10:39 pm »


Up-river from Nitpicker's place....




     (greedy, selfish dairy farmers literally shitting on those poor unfortunates who live down-river)



Instead of whinging about it why don't you do something about it, like researching how to toilet train cows and then starting up your own business. Any fool can sit in front of a computer and moan.
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« Reply #16 on: December 01, 2013, 06:03:38 pm »


Now where was there anything moaning in my post?

I was merely posting a photograph and pointing out facts....

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« Reply #17 on: December 01, 2013, 08:42:11 pm »

Those are dry stock, not that it makes much difference. I would venture a guess that the brown tinge in the river is caused by peat? It has that look about it.
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« Reply #18 on: December 02, 2013, 06:22:10 am »


re Crusader's http://xtranewscommunity2.smfforfree.com/index.php/topic,9205.0/msg,155887.html
Quote
Instead of whinging about it why don't you do something about it, like researching how to toilet train cows and then starting up your own business. Any fool can sit in front of a computer and moan.

news for you, Crusader. 

For several years when fit and and newly "retired" I was part of a DCC pressure group aiming to have the Mosgiel sewage - which was pumped directly into the Taieri River, directly upstream of my neck of the woods - diverted and treated.

Eventually the city council diverted Mosgiel's sewage from the river to the coastal outfall at Waldronville about 12 years ago. Incidentally  transferring and compounding the problem by introducing fluoride to our sea beaches, (but nemmind, more about THAT at a later date perhaps!)

so right back at ya crusader:  Any fool can sit in front of a computer and moan


Those are dry stock, not that it makes much difference. I would venture a guess that the brown tinge in the river is caused by peat? It has that look about it.

dry stock = culls = beef?

BTW, I think you'll find this brown tinge is stagnant water. The pic appears to be on the flood plain's channel thingy close to the reformed SH1 near Mosgiel, Waihola and Outram.

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« Reply #19 on: December 02, 2013, 10:38:49 am »

BTW, I think you'll find this brown tinge is stagnant water. The pic appears to be on the flood plain's channel thingy close to the reformed SH1 near Mosgiel, Waihola and Outram.

That is likely.
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« Reply #20 on: February 05, 2014, 08:46:08 pm »



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« Reply #21 on: March 10, 2014, 10:54:39 am »


Survey shows Kiwis dirty on dairying

By MARTY SHARPE - The Dominion Post | 5:00AM - Monday, 10 March 2014



MORE THAN a third of us believe the country is too reliant on the dairy industry and that the industry's poor performance is affecting our global reputation and brand, according to findings being released today.

The survey by Horizon Research, and funded by Fish & Game, was conducted in November.

Among its findings are:


  • 37 percent of people say the economy is too heavily dependent on dairy farming and 31 percent say the growth of dairying and intensification has gone too far.

  • Only 19 percent believed the country should continue to grow dairy farming.

  • 31 percent of people said they would be much less likely to vote for a political party that introduced policies promoting economic growth without being clear on how the party would protect the environment.

  • 55 percent say the dairy industry's environmental performance is adversely impacting on our global reputation and brand.

  • 70 percent say the expansion of dairy farming has made water quality worse than it was 20 years ago.

  • 73 percent say dairy companies should take responsibility for the performance of their contracted suppliers.

  • 62 percent say regional councils are conflicted by having responsibility for protecting waterways and for promoting large scale irrigation schemes.

Fish & Game NZ chief executive Bryce Johnson said the research showed there was a risk to any political party introducing policies promoting economic growth if they could not guarantee safeguards to protect the environment.

"Of particular interest was the strong overall support (73 percent) for requiring dairy companies to take formal responsibility for the environmental performance of their contracted suppliers - currently not the case, with the struggling role falling to regional councils funded by ordinary ratepayers," Mr Johnson said.

He said the results would shock many in the agriculture sector where "the long-held presumption has been that farming enjoys the popular support of the wider public".

"That has clearly all changed as a consequence of the bullish attitude of the dairy industry, and while many farmers are doing their best environmentally, the sector has simply gone too far with the industry leadership and regional councils failing to deal with the poor performers.

The research also showed the "overwhelming" (74 percent) message that people did not want regional councils to allow new agricultural development and expansion "if it restricts public use and makes waterways unsafe for swimming, fishing and food gathering".

"New Zealanders want regional councils to stick to their knitting — protecting natural resources, including freshwater — rather than promoting environmentally destructive infrastructure projects and environmentally unsustainable industry expansion," he said.

The survey talked to 3,134 people aged 18 or over and has an error margin of +/- 1.8 percent.


http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/9808285/Survey-shows-Kiwis-dirty-on-dairying
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« Reply #22 on: March 10, 2014, 11:37:15 am »

TJ
Today at 12:54:39 pm »

 just testing

my watch and lappy show12:38pm
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« Reply #23 on: March 10, 2014, 01:50:58 pm »


Dairy industry hits back at survey

By LIAM HYSLOP - The Dominion Post | 2:13PM - Monday, 10 March 2014



THE DAIRY INDUSTRY has hit back at a "lame duck" survey which says they are damaging New Zealand's international reputation through a poor environmental record.

A survey by Horizon Research, funded by Fish & Game and released yesterday, showed 70 percent of respondents said the expansion of dairy farming had made water quality worse than it was 20 years ago.

More than a third of respondents believed the country was too reliant on the dairy industry and more than half believed the industry's poor performance was affecting our global reputation and brand.

But Federated Farmers environment spokesman Ian Mackenzie said the survey missed the fact that much of what the public asked for in the survey about policies has already been done.

"In the Fish & Game survey, people are concerned that the government needs to put polices in place."

"That has been done through the national policy statement on freshwater and the national objective framework."

"Given the government has put in place everything the respondents said they wanted, but were not aware of before they commented, I consider this poll to be a bit of a lame duck."

Diary NZ sustainability strategy and investment team leader Rick Pridmore said although dairy farmers had contributed to some pollution, they were not the only contributors.

"Water quality in New Zealand, where it has got worse, has got worse from a large variety of sources."

"Dairy is one of the causes, dairy is not in denial, but we are just part of the issue."

Pridmore said parts of the survey asked people questions about a topic they knew little about.

"There is one thing surveying for who should be Prime Minister, that is an opinion."

"A lot of us, on the vast majorities of subjects, we're not experts on them and go by what we hear and read."

Dairy farmers contribute more than $5 million per year to help fund research by councils trying to implement the national policy statement on freshwater, Pridmore said.

This included $1m to help improve Waituna Lagoon in Southland and $1.2m to assist Waikato Regional Council with its waterways.

Individual farmers worked hard to ensure their own farms were environmentally friendly, Pridmore said.

"Everybody has a nutrient management plan, everybody has a better effluent system and those aren't cheap, those can be $200,000."

On the point of New Zealand's reliance on the dairy industry, Pridmore said dairy farmers do not get up in the morning to try and make New Zealand more reliant on them.

"They wake up in the morning to help make money for the country and them."

"The fact that they have been successful, do you want to penalise them?"

No dairy farmer wanted that success to come at the expense of the environment, Pridmore said.

Any industry the size of the dairy industry would always leave a bigger environmental footprint than smaller industries, he said.

"If anything was the size of dairy it would have a bigger environmental footprint."

"If we had a population of 20 million people urban discharges would be the biggest thing affecting our water quality."


http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/9810878/Dairy-industry-hits-back-at-survey
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« Reply #24 on: March 19, 2014, 11:01:01 am »



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