Tuesday, January 9, 2018
DAIRY farmer Jared Watson is working for a cleaner environment, so that the Waiotahe River can be enjoyed by this and future generations. Photo supplied
Sven Carlsson
LEADERSHIP and environmental concerns were on the menu when sustainability experts met at the Dairy Environment Leaders Forum in Wellington.
The national event was held from December 5 to 6.
Guest speakers included Australian author and science communicator Julian Cribb, Maori businesswoman Mavis Mullins, businessman and environmentalist Sir Rob Fenwick, DairyNZ strategy and investment leader Bruce Thorrold and a selection of dairy farmers.
DairyNZ senior media specialist Vanessa Feaver said 93 dairy farmers who focused on sustainable farming issues attended the forum.
Among them was Waiotahe Water Care Group chairman Jared Watson who said Mr Cribb had warned against a culture of waste, which saw half of what farmers produced end up as landfill.
“He said up to half of the world’s food is currently wasted or lost post-harvest,” Mr Watson said.
“We live a life of excess and the way we’re eating protein is killing us, leading to obesity and diseases.”
Mr Watson said farmers needed to be aware of their effect on the planet.
Mr Cribb said the knowledge of how to grow healthy food and recycle nutrients and water would become a skill more precious than any commodity.
“New Zealand has the expertise, technology and ideas to lead a sustainable food revolution,” he said.
“The New Zealand dairy industry can be a world exporter of the knowledge humanity needs to survive.”
Mr Watson said the forum had inspired him and he and his wife were considering diversifying their land use.
“We have to be smarter about what we are doing and it made me think about diversifying,” he said.
“Our main product is dairy but we also carry extra stock for the beef market, and we’ll look at possibly avocados or trees on our steeper land.”
Mr Watson said good environmental performance depended on being productive and profitable.
“It all works together,” he said.
The Watsons aim to create a profitable, sustainable dairy farm that attracts a high calibre of staff who share their passion for working in pristine environments.
“The Waiotahe River runs through our farm and we have changed practices, including changing land use on part of the farm to avoid river crossing, retiring steeper land to native trees and focusing on soil health.”
Mr Watson said he wanted as many of the Waiotahe Water Care Group farmers as possible to attend the upcoming Waiotahe estuary clean-up day on Thursday January 11.
“It’s great for us to be involved in,” he said. “We’ll all get to know one another and we’ll be adding collective weight.”
Waiotahe estuary cleanup
Bait stations have helped reduce rat and mustelid numbers at the Waiotahe estuary.
THE Bryans Beach community group is calling for volunteers to attend a beach clean-up day at the Waiotahe estuary.
The group started in 2007 with six committee members representing about 80 households in the Bryans Beach area.
They organised their first estuary clean up in 2014.
Bryans Beach resident Judy Lewis said it was a beautiful part of the district and the group was on the look-out for volunteers to help keep it that way.
“We have been working hard for 10 years to help keep our corner of New Zealand beautiful and we’d love others to come along and join,” she said.
The group was taking on projects affecting the community, from installing speed bumps along the beach front and planting native trees to weed eradication.
“The members have installed a series of predator traps and bait stations to help boost bird populations,” Ms Lewis said.
“We have placed 80 Department of Conservation traps from the Ohiwa Harbour to the Waiotahe spit across from the pipi beds, and approximately 55 bait stations.”
As a result, the number of shore and estuarine birds in the area had increased significantly.
“Many hours are spent monitoring the New Zealand dotterel and variable oyster-catcher nests to help the chicks survive,” Ms Lewis said.
Rat and mustelid numbers have dramatically decreased.
The clean-up takes place on Thursday, January 11, starting at 9.30am.
Meet at Bryans Beach, at the Ohiwa Beach Road, on the edge of the Ohiwa Harbour and the Waiotahe estuary.
Volunteers are advised to wear old clothes and bring gumboots and gloves.
The Bay of Plenty Regional Council will provide a sausage sizzle once the clean-up work is finished.
People interested in helping out should phone Judy Lewis on 3154686.
Environmental leaders
DairyNZ strategy and investment leader for sustainability, Dr Rick Pridmore, established the Dairy Environment Leaders Forum five years ago to build a cohort of farmers who would lead the industry into its future.
More than 250 “dairy environment leaders” are now hosting visitors on-farm or liaising with councils and government, working on local catchment water quality and climate change.
“There used to be one way to farm to make milk and one way to farm for the environment – and now the two are totally aligned for these farmers, Dr Pridmore said.
“We produce three percent of the world’s milk and we have to make it the most natural, most wanted and most desirable milk in the world.”