Environmental issues paramount

Farmers need to ensure a balance between farming to feed their families and pay their mortgages, and farming to protect the environment, farming leader Bruce Wills says.

The New Zealand Federated Farmers’ president, who was in Taranaki last week for the annual meeting of Taranaki Federated Farmers, said he devoted more than half his time to environmental issues. Farmers were now front-footing their environmental obligations more vigorously than in the past and were listening to the growing chorus of concern in New Zealand and in international markets about the impact of farming on the environment.

‘‘Farmers are making real progress. They have put huge resources into protecting the environment. They’re making a long-term investment,’’ he said.

However, there was still ‘‘a bunch who needed to lift their socks’’ or regulations would be imposed on the industry. But he said care needed to be taken to ensure the pendulum to protect the environment did not swing too far.

Farmers should be pragmatic and sensible about balancing protection of the environment with the economics of farming, Mr Wills said. ‘‘We’ve still got an economy that’s reliant on agriculture.

‘‘But, I believe New Zealand farmers can produce food on a smaller land area with a lesser environmental footprint.’’

The agricultural industry generated $24 billion of export receipts a year, and that could not be achieved without the support of New Zealand’s rural towns and urban centres.

‘‘Agriculture is important to New Zealand and it’s important for farming to sell its story to society. I believe urban New Zealand likes, trusts and respects farmers,’’ he said.

Meanwhile, he thought foreign investment in New Zealand farmland was both necessary and beneficial for the nation’s economy because the rural sector was ‘‘on its knees’’ in debt.

Without foreign investment, property values in New Zealand would drop, he said.