Letter outlines growing concerns

Garland has since done many interviews on the subject, but it is the Government he wants to influence and he says he is in the process of organising a meeting with Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor. 

Garland hopes O’Connor will get alongside Health Minister David Clark and Environment Minister David Parker.

And he hopes to make a difference to the way the public thinks about farmers and their impact on the environment and believes he is getting traction.

“The anti farmer issue is getting more credence from the Government rather than the public,” he told Rural News.

Garland says any change to the environment is everyone’s responsibility, not just farmers’.

He says dairy farmers have had it tough over the last few years “with low payouts for milk solids over three years, M. bovis and Fonterra problems which have wiped share value off.  The banks are also putting pressure on dairy farmers too, so they have every reason to be despondent”.

Garland says in terms of trade, sheep and beef farmers have experienced good years with record returns, but they are also upset which emanates from a feeling of worthlessness.

He says both dairy and sheep and beef farmers feel much is coming at them on the environment.

“Tree planting, the Zero Carbon Bill and the National Freshwater Policy are all having a profound impact on the pastoral industry and they all happened in a short time.  They all have huge implications for farming and people are feeling totally overwhelmed.”

Garland says while the public view of farmers may have improved there is still the ‘liberal left’, which has a darker view.

He concedes some mismanagement has occurred in the past: cropping where it shouldn’t have been, bobby calves mistreated and erosion and sediment run-off.

“But maybe only 20% of farmers might be guilty of bad environment practices,” he said. “But 80% are doing the right thing. They are making waterways healthier and there is concern about biodiversity. We need to give those people credit.”

Garland says farmers are problem solvers but they have been shut out of any consultations.

“They are made to feel they are part of the problem and they have not been asked to find a solution that might work.”

He believes the Government has not had the right approach and has not read farmers well, shutting out rural people who could help them find solutions.

“How does the Government expect to achieve behaviour change by constituents who are dejected and feel alienated from society?”

Garland says farming in New Zealand has taken at least 100 years to evolve complex systems of pasture and livestock in place.

“You don’t just turn around those systems overnight. Farmers need more time and to be involved, to adapt.”

Garland’s letter says the Government’s approach to environmental management is undermining the mental health of farmers. And some of the $1.5 billion to be spent on mental health will be needed to counter the impact on the rural sector.

“The Government has contributed strongly toward turning the public against farming, which has had a severe impact on farmers’ self esteem and on their ability to cope with the rapidly changing policy on the environment.”

Read Garland's letter here.