Townies need farmers

I read with interest Tuesday’s Northland Age article ‘Farmers need townies.’ At a recent Federated Farmers AGM I too heard the general concerns and Shane Jones’ speech.

I agree with Shane that the political parties are courting the metropolitan voice, and the farmers’ voice, being a minority, no longer carries the weight it once had. On the contrary, farmers are being presented as climate villains, and, as the article states, “the language being used was casting farming as a ‘cancerinducing’ industry”.

For me this is a far more sinister trend. When a minority group is singled out for political advantage, as all of history attests, then we are moving into dangerous territory, where bad political decisions are made, people get hurt, and ultimately the country suffers.

Whether we all agree or not, townies need farmers. In a world where food demands are expected to double by 2050 we would be fools to destroy the viability of our farmers.

In general, farmers are not climate villains and are concerned about preserving their land and soils. For example, the majority of what remains of our native bush is in private hands, preserved by generations of private farmers. Farmers are also making positive changes. There is fencing of waterways, better management of effluent, and large fines are imposed for non-compliance.

Farmers are singled out in other ways as well. Other industries can offset their greenhouse gas emissions by planting trees, but farmers, in the proposals to date, are denied the same right to offset their methane emissions by planting trees on their land. Further, the carbon being sequestered by the pre-1990 native bush on their land cannot be used to offset carbon dioxide emissions.

Farms carrying the same stock numbers pre-1990 as today are still expected to pay for their total carbon emission, even though the emissions haven’t increased since 1990. Sure, there is room for improvement on the farm, but action is being taken.

If we are to move beyond the rhetoric and effectively address the issues of climate change then we need our farmers and we need to be prepared to work constructively together. Urban dwellers depend on farmers not only for food, but most of their water sources come from rural areas, and urban waste is usually disposed of in rural landfill. Urban areas, when all is accounted for, emit more greenhouse gases per square kilometre than rural areas. According to a BBC article, cement alone contributes about eight per cent of the world’s CO2.

Tests have shown that urban areas also have the most polluted rivers in New Zealand. And I can see the day coming when lifestyle blocks in an increasingly hungry world will be seen as an irresponsible waste of good productive land.

I’m hoping New Zealand can develop a level of maturity as seen in England and Holland towards their farming, where good farmland is protected, while urban dwellers see the value in having their rural environment protected and play their part in reducing their environmental footprint also.

"In a world where food demands are expected to double by 2050 we would be fools to destroy the viability of our farmers. "