DAIRY NEWS MAY 14, 2019
OPINION // 17
Failing to see the wood for the trees ANDREW HOGGARD
AS A general rule, Federated Farmers is not interested in telling anyone how they should use their land. But there is growing unease -- even anger -about the amount of productive farmland being gobbled up by forestry, and the long-term impacts of that trend on rural communities. All things being equal, owners will base their land use decisions on their family and business circumstances and what they feel will be profitable. However, three current factors may be skewing the balance as owners of farmland weigh up their future: ■■ Grants available under the Government’s One Billion Trees programme ■■ Carbon credit income as New Zealand looks to offset continued greenhouse gas emissions, and ■■ The relatively less stringent crite-
not even get into the ria overseas buyers arguments about envimust meet when ronmental and road investing in forestry maintenance impacts. vs farmland. School rolls suffer, News media last as do community sermonth reported widevices and club memspread dismay in Wairberships. In short, said arapa over news that the Beetham, if too much of 1050ha Hadleigh Stathe Wairarapa hill countion, described by the try becomes forest, the province’s Federated surrounding district will Farmers president Wil- Andrew Hoggard be dotted with ghost liam Beetham as “a fantastic sheep and beef property”, had towns. Other farm to forestry converbeen purchased by a firm that specialsions were reported to be happening ises in forestry investments. Beetham pointed out that a sheep in Pongaroa, Lagoon Hills and near and beef farm like that would spend Ngawi. And that’s just in Wairarapa/ about $500 per hectare every year but Tararua. Changes to the Overseas Investa plantation forest, apart from initial planting and a bit of pruning, offers ment Office rules at the end of 2017 little employment or work flow into introduced a new special forestry test providing the “fastest and most service towns. Land turned into pine forests won’t straightforward pathway for overseas be logged for 25-30 years. And let’s investors”. OIO checks are all about
investment being “in the national interest” but does that mean we sacrifice regional interests in the process? It may well be in the national interest for more marginal, erosion-prone land to be converted to growing trees but it’s highly debatable the same can be said when good, productive farmland is swallowed by plantation forestry. Under its One Billion Trees programme, the Government has earmarked $240 million in landowner and partnership grants to help get more planting initiatives across the line. Let’s be honest, the economics of wood vs livestock will be more crucial as farmers weigh the long-term, but grants like that are akin to putting a finger on the scales. We also have the pressing problem of climate change, and looming deadlines to meet our international commitments on that front. But as the Parliamentary Commissioner for the
Environment, Simon Upton, argued in his comprehensive ‘Farms, forests and fossil fuels’ report, managing the long-term problem of emissions with a short-term ‘fix’ of sequestering carbon in trees is risky. Carbon dioxide is indisputably the main culprit in global warming, and Upton argued that relying on sequestering this gas in trees merely puts off the urgency for fossil-fuel burning sectors, including transport, to invest in the necessary low- and no-emission technologies we’ll need long term. If we’re lucky we might meet our international accounting obligations by 2050, but it will be an accounting victory only, he said. We may well need the sort of alternative landscape approach Upton called for but a large scale rush into plantation forestry may be a case of failing to see the wood for the trees. • Andrew Hoggard is Federated Farmers climate change spokesman.
WINTERING PRACTICES ARE CRITICAL BALA TIKKESETTY
SOIL DAMAGE during winter is a big issue for farmers. It coincides with high stock densities and high soil moisture conditions. Stock wintering systems play a major role in water quality and soil health, because stock are then grazing during a time of much hydrological activity that moves contaminants off land and into nearby waterbodies. General practice during winter is to graze stock intensively on winter forage crops supplying large quantities of feed in a relatively small area. Now is the right time for farmers to consider the impact of stock wintering practices. These can impact surface and ground water quality and soil quality due to heavy concentrations of dung and urine, the creation of bare ground and the risk of run-off in wet weather. Many studies have shown that water quality guidelines and standards have been exceeded as a result of intensive agricultural activities. Here are some stock
wintering options that can achieve good environmental results, are animal-friendly and make economic sense. Feed and stand-off pads protect soil physical structure in wet weather. The feed pad is a dedicated concrete platform where supplementary feeds are brought to the stock. It has higher feed efficiency, reducing wastage to about 5% versus 20% or more when silage is fed in paddocks. Stand-off pads are a dedicated loafing area for stock. These have a softer, free-draining surface of, say, wood chips. As stock can be withheld from pasture for longer times, the area required per cow has to be bigger, say, about 8m2. Capture of effluent is an important aspect of stand-off pads. It requires the base to be sealed underneath, either with compacted clay or an artificial liner or concrete, and the captured effluent directed to a treatment system. Animal shelters are gaining popularity. Herd homes are a combination of a feeding platform, stand-off facility and animal shelter. Sheltered feeding areas have con-
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crete floor slats through which cow effluent drops into a concrete-lined bunker. Composting barns are another stock wintering option, with the composting occurring in situ. The cows roam freely in the barn and lie on a mix of wood chips and straw. The beds must be kept dry by adequate ventilation and aeration. In the past, sacrifice
paddocks have been used when other options were not available to stand animals off or feed supplements when it is very wet. However, there is a risk of soil structure damage and animal health problems such as lameness and mastitis. If soil potassium levels rise too high (potassium is excreted in urine) it may predispose the calving cow to metabolic
problems. These paddocks come with a very high risk of discharges of contaminants to water, so they must be sited well away from waterways, with an area of rank growth to trap any sediment or dung that washes off. Build your wintering structure well away from waterways and allow for solid and liquid waste disposal into your effluent disposal system. Don’t use
supplementary feeds in areas where run-off may reach any waterbody. By planning now and implementing proper stock wintering management practices, you can play an important part in improving water quality and soil health. • Bala Tikkisetty is a sustainable agriculture advisor at Waikato Regional Council. Contact him on 0800 800 401.
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