Farmer: This challenge cannot be underestimated
For four decades, Tokoroa dairy farmer George Moss has always tried to do the right thing by the environment.
He and wife Sharon have kept imported feeds to a minimum, and made heavy use of industry-support tools to farm more sustainably.
Rather than following an intensification model often blamed for freshwater and climate pollution, they stock their paddocks at a lower than average rate, with a focus on aboveaverage profit and performance for each cow.
“The focus for us is to use the timelines we have to reduce and manage our footprint to as an efficient level as we can,” he said.
“In essence, we are restructuring our farming business with a view to improved resilience.”
Still, they face the same economic pressures and uncertainties all farmers have to grapple with, on top of adapting to a changing climate and new environmental reporting requirements.
There’s concern about how the industry-led effort to slash emissions, He Waka Eke Noa, will be put into practice at the farm gate or whether agriculture will instead be folded into the Emissions Trading Scheme with other sectors. “Knowing one’s greenhouse gas numbers and understanding how that can be influenced is a big challenge,” Moss said.
“Most importantly, how does one maintain profitability while reducing the greenhouse-gas footprint?
“This challenge cannot be underestimated because if we get it wrong, the nation as a whole suffers.”
As for just signed-off reforms aimed at cleaning up our lakes, waters and streams, Moss was reasonably comfortable with the intent of the policies.
He saw much practical sense in the approach of each farmer developing their own farm plans to better manage their impact on the environment.
“A hold-the-line approach, while regional council get policies in place that align with [the reforms], makes sense as well.”
But again, he had worried about how some of the new policies would be practically implemented, along with what resourcing there would be available off-farm to ensure compliance.
And he questioned whether a new 190kg cap on synthetic nitrogen use would deliver the environmental result the Government wanted it to.
“I have seen high-input farmers with excellent environmental outcomes, and conversely, low-input farmers with [poor] outcomes — the operator attitude and knowledge is everything,” he said.
“The farmers doing the right thing are probably reasonably comfortable but most have not had time to digest the rules fully.”
Ultimately, he felt environment policy should treat all primary production equally, whether that was animal farming, forestry or horticulture.
“I would also like to see greater focus and support for communities to come together and decide what are the right environmental outcomes for their catchment.
“A rule for one catchment is maybe inappropriate for another,” he said.
“I am hoping a number of the regional plans will reflect a catchment-based approach.”