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NEW ZEALAND FACES risks to its environmental and economic future if issues facing the sheep meat industry are not resolved, says Environment Southland chairman Ali Timms.
Timms says there is widespread and growing concern in the community about the dire situation of the sheep meat industry. She planned to discuss her concerns to the Minister for Primary Industries Nathan Guy yesterday.
"The minister needs to recognise that if the issues facing the sheep meat industry are not addressed the Government will face barriers in meeting its economic growth agenda, and regional councils will struggle to meet the water quality goals of the National Policy Statement on freshwater," she says.
Regional councils seek to balance environmental and economic gains, she says. Southland and many other regions around the country are facing water quality issues as a result of elevated nitrogen (N) levels. Recent estimates put the average losses of N/per hectare/per year in the Southland area at about: Dairy platform 30; intensive sheep/beef/deer farms 12; extensive sheep/beef/deer farms 6; dairy support (intensive winter grazing) 55
"It is clear that the generally less extensive nature of red meat farming really helps to lower the overall environmental footprint in rural Southland," says Timms.
Timms says she isn't asking for the Government to directly intervene, but she is pushing the case for national leadership because it will be difficult to meet the targets of the NPS without the sheep meat industry having long-term viability.
Claims that some Southland farmers were invoiced up to $4000 for winter grazing compliance checks despite not breaching rules are being rejected by Environment Southland.
Environment Southland's catchment improvement funding is once again available for innovative landowners in need of a boost to get their project going.
The vineyards at Pyramid Farm in Marlborough’s Avon Valley have never been run of the mill, with plantings that follow the natural contours of the land, 250 metres above sea level.
Federated Farmers says it welcomes a recent court decision which granted a stay on rules in the Southland Water and Land Plan until legislative changes can be made by government.
Environment Southland says it has now ring-fenced $375,000 for new funding initiatives, aimed at enhancing water quality.
NZPork has appointed Auckland-based Paul Bucknell as its new chair.
The Government claims to have delivered on its election promise to protect productive farmland from emissions trading scheme (ETS) but red meat farmers aren’t happy.
Foot and Mouth Disease outbreaks could have a detrimental impact on any country's rural sector, as seen in the United Kingdom's 2000 outbreak that saw the compulsory slaughter of over six million animals.
The Ministry for the Environment is joining as a national award sponsor in the Ballance Farm Environment Awards (BFEA from next year).
Kiwis are wasting less of their food than they were two years ago, and this has been enough to push New Zealand’s total household food waste bill lower, the 2025 Rabobank KiwiHarvest Food Waste survey has found.
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