Day out on the farm

An Invercargill farming partnership is opening its gates to the public on Sunday to showcase rural life and the steps being taken to improve water quality in the Waituna catchment.

The Fonterra initiative is part of the dairy co-operative’s Living Water programme in conjunction with the Department of Conservation.

Tony and Raewyn van Gool, who own a dairy farm at Mokotua near Invercargill, are using this to take part in another Fonterra initiative, the Open Gates project, which is running throughout New Zealand so that people can visit farms and experience rural life.

Raewyn said the open day was a ‘‘good old-fashioned day out’’.

‘‘We took part in it last year, and the overwhelming comment that we heard on the day was that it was just a really good opportunity for families to be able to bring their families to a farm, and that it was a really inspiring thing for people and kids.’’

People will get to go on a hay ride and see a cow being milked, while sampling the Open Gates special edition icecream.

The children of the farm’s sharemilkers Tony and Wendy Roubroeks have organised a cowpat bingo fundraiser for the Gore Road School. Max, Oliver and Lewis will let loose two cows on a fenced-in area marked off in squares. The cow determines the winner by making the first ‘‘deposit’’ on one of the squares.

The free Open Gates runs from 11am to 3pm on Sunday.

‘‘If people are also interested in talking about the environment, the day can also provide an opportunity to get a better understanding of what we are doing on the farm,’’ Raewyn said.

During the past 18 years, the van Gools, who live in Cromwell, have been carrying out fencing and riparian planting along the waterways and establishing wetlands across the property. The farm was awarded a QEII National Trust covenant for its native bush pockets and natural wetlands in 2010, and had made innovations to control leaching and leaks that had become standard practice during the past decade.

Their efforts have contributed to the five-year $13.3 million Whakamana te Waituna programme in and around Waituna Lagoon.

The partnership between Nga¯ i Tahu, Te Ru¯ nanga o Awarua, Environment Southland, DOC, Fonterra, Living Water and the Southland District Council aims to improve water quality and biodiversity, support cultural aspirations and support sustainable farming in the catchment.

A public drop-in session to update progress will be held at the Gorge Road Country Club on November 22, from 6.30pm to 8.30pm.