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Chris Allen.
We are losing our most productive land to houses - that’s the most significant point Federated Farmers takes from the ‘Our Land 2018’ report released today.
The Ministry for the Environment report shows the pressure New Zealand agriculture is under from the loss of highly productive and versatile land due to urbanisation.
There was a 10% increase in urban areas from 2002 to 2012 and the loss would be even more now with the pressure on housing in the last few years.
Alarmingly, at the same time, there was a 7% reduction in land used for agriculture. This means land and soil is lost to urban subdivisions, forestry and lifestyle blocks.
"We know soils are precious. Seeing them covered with tarseal and concrete is something we as significant custodians of land get frustrated by," Federated Farmers environment spokesperson Chris Allen says.
Federated Farmers is committed to supporting farmers to implement good management practices that will reduce erosion and help manage soil.
This report is a useful tool for helping all farmers and other land users see what we need to continue to work on.
"This report is the first of its kind, and it’s a good first attempt at putting together some analysis of our land use,’ says Allen.
"But it is obviously lacking in significant data - the report admits this multiple times.”
Feds is extremely disappointed most of the data used in this report has not been updated since the Environment Aotearoa report of 2015 which used 2012 data.
"If we are serious about monitoring land use and its quality, we need to get our act together and fund the science appropriately.
"Most of the data in this report is six years out of date. That’s not acceptable or helpful," Allen says.
"We know scientists are struggling to get successful bids for this research funding over the line as agricultural science is just not sexy enough."
Academic Dr Mike Joy and his employer, Victoria University of Wellington have apologised for his comments suggesting that dairy industry CEOs should be hanged for contributing towards nitrate poisoning of waterways.
A comment by outspoken academic Dr Mike Joy suggesting that dairy industry leaders should be hanged for nitrate contamination of drinking/groundwater has enraged farmers.
Federated Farmers says the final report into banking competition is a significant step forward for rural New Zealand - and a vindication of the farming sector's concern.
Farmer lobby group Federated Farmers has announced it is supporting a new Member’s Bill which it says could bring clarity to New Zealand farmers and save millions in legal costs.
Federated Farmers says climate protest group Greenpeace is manufacturing outrage and attempting to scare New Zealanders with headlines that have no basis in science.
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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