Farmers bridging the rural, urban gap
Wynn Brown hopes opening the gates of his dairy farm will put a human face on an industry that increasingly is offside with the public.
The Matamata dairy farmer is one of eight farmers around Waikato and 40 around the country taking part in Fonterra’s Open Gates day tomorrow, December 10.
The industry ‘‘had taken a fair bit of a beating’’ over the last six months and he hoped the day would go some way to changing that.
‘‘My hope is that it bridges the gap between urban and rural and that urban people can see that we are trying hard to do the right thing.’’
People coming to Wynn and wife Tracy’s farm will see their herd, wetlands, pet calves, goats and lambs, their effluent system and how the Browns use it to recycle nutrients back on to the farm.
People would also be able to plant a tree, he said.
People interested in seeing the Browns’ farm or others opening tomorrow can head to the Fonterra website.
The Browns have been dairy farming at the property for 25 years. Wynn grew up on the 240-hectare farm and converted it to dairying from sheep and beef in 1994. Today it milks 700 cows, producing 380,000-400,000 kilograms of milk solids.
The farm sits at the headwaters of waterways that feed into the Waitoa River. As a family with four children actively involved in water activities, maintaining that water quality means a lot.
‘‘Those waterways are important to us because we use them, just like other people.’’
Their wetland development started years before dirty dairying became a catchcry. Wynn said their reason for doing it was simple: It made sense and was the right thing to do.
‘‘It’s not an easy job, but I don’t see it as hard because it’s something that I enjoy.’’