Swimmable rivers pledge
Farming leaders representing 80 per cent of the industry are rejecting the notion that reducing the national dairy herd is the most effective way to make New Zealand rivers more swimmable.
The leaders – Mike Petersen (agricultural trade envoy), Michael Spaans (DairyNZ chairman), James Parsons (Beef + Lamb NZ chairman), John Loughlin (Meat Industry Association chairman), Katie Milne (Federated Farmers president), Bruce Wills (former Feds president and Ravensdown director), and John Wilson (Fonterra chairman) – have pledged to make all New Zealand rivers swimmable.
Admitting that not all rivers were in the condition they wanted them to be, and that farming had not always got it right, the group said the vow was ‘‘simply the right thing to do’’.
Launching the pledge by the banks of the Ngaruroro River in Hawke’s Bay, Milne, spokeswoman for the group, said the intent behind the commitment was clear. ‘‘Many of our rivers are not in the condition we all want them to be. We are doing this because we want our kids and their kids to be able to swim in the same rivers that we did as children. And by swim we mean swim. It’s as simple as that.’’
Fish and Game, the Greens and Greenpeace have all called for a cut in cow numbers.
Milne said the problem was complex. ‘‘Getting rid of cows is too simplistic an approach to improving water quality. Farmers have invested in them, they are people’s livelihood and what are people going to do to look after themselves if we did that?’’ she said. ‘‘Looking back, if we knew then what we know now there may have been some areas where we would have discouraged cows.
‘‘But we have got them, and it’s a matter of making the best of it, learning going forward and adjusting our systems to suit.’’
‘‘Our farming methods will improve, and over time the water quality will improve.’’
The move was welcomed by Labour primary industry spokesman Damien O’Connor who said he had been telling farming groups for the last 12 months they needed to say something ‘‘to be on the same page as the public who have a desire for swimmable rivers’’.
Green spokeswoman for the environment, Eugenie Sage, said the statement had to be made meaningful by concrete commitments.
‘‘It needs to be backed up by measures such as stronger regulatory controls on pollution, lower dairy cow numbers to reduce nutrient pollution, ending PKE use, winding up Government subsidies for big irrigation schemes which encourage intensification, reducing dairy sector debt; and shifting to more sustainable farming models.’’
Milne conceded farming had not always ‘‘got it right’’ in recent years, but progress had been made, there was more to be done, and it had to be done fast. She defended the lack of specifics in the pledge. ‘‘Today isn’t about laying out the detail on the huge amount of work going on already on farms up and down the country and how these efforts will need to increase.’’
‘‘It’s about us as farming leaders signalling our commitment to making New Zealand’s rivers swimmable and doing everything we can to achieve that,’’ Milne said.