Federated Farmers launches drive to cut 'nutrient losses'

NEW ZEALAND - Federated Farmers says it wants farmers to commit to reduce "nutrient losses" such as effluent run-off from paddocks by 10 per cent over the next decade.
calendar icon 7 November 2006
clock icon 1 minute read

President Charlie Pedersen launched the "10 in 10" campaign at Federated Farmers' national council meeting in Wellington today, suggesting this would represent the direction in which farmers were heading.

"We have, are, and will continue to do our share to improve the environment," he said.

Mr Pedersen said farmers cared about the environment and worried about the downstream effects of farming, but did not need to feel too embarrassed, as cities and towns "modify and influence the environment far more than farms ever have".

He said nutrient loss from farms seemed to spark the most debate when water quality was being discussed.

Environmental critics of farmers have blamed run-off from the urine and faeces from dairy cows for lowland water pollution - and increasing incidence in some regions of diseases which cause diarrhoea, including cryptosporidium and salmonella.

And the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, Morgan Williams, has called for a total redesign of New Zealand farming systems because rapid expansion in farmers' use of nitrogen fertilisers, increased stocking rates, and increased irrigation are threatening New Zealand's soils and freshwater.

New Zealand's existing forage systems are already at the limit of their productive potential, and the increasing intensification is increasing pressure on the environment, with degraded water quality, increasing nitrification of soils and groundwater, and increasing greenhouse gas emissions, according to Mr Williams.

Source: nzherald.co.nz

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