Time right for moratorium on dairy conversions

The Green Party is calling for a moratorium on dairy conversions in the face of low payouts to farmers for milk solids.

“Turmoil in the global dairy market means now is a great time for us to pause and take stock of the sector, and meanwhile, not continue any more dairy conversions until more is clear about whether the economics and environmental considerations stack up,” said Green Party primary industries spokesperson Eugenie Sage.

“It makes no sense to be converting land to even more dairy farms when existing dairy farmers are under pressure from low milk prices and when there is a substantial environmental cost to more conversions.

“At $3.85/kg milk solids, farmers are getting nearly $2 less than they need to break even. There is a real human cost to this payout in terms of stress and hardship experienced by farmers and their communities.

“Since 1990, the number of dairy cows in New Zealand has risen by 85%. Landcorp’s conversions to dairy in the Upper Waikato alone will add another 29,500 cows to an environment that is already at ‘peak dairy’.

“Why add more milk to a sector that is already overrun with product and when our biodiversity and water quality are already suffering, and farmers aren’t able to make a decent living?

“A moratorium on further conversions would encourage a greater focus on adding value, not volume, and on increasing farm profitability, rather than just farm production. We want a dairy sector and an economy that is sustainable in the long term and less at the whim of changing commodity prices.

“More conversions puts the environment under more pressure by increasing the nutrient and faecal pollution load on waterways and groundwater. It often destroys biodiversity as vulnerable land is converted to dairy.

“The intensive farming model that requires farmers to increase stock numbers, buy in more feed, and increase fertiliser use to keep up production is not resilient or sustainable. It puts stress on land, water and the climate and on farmers through increasing debt.

“Fonterra intends to raise production from 20 billion litres of milk in 2014 to 30 billion litres in 2025.

“In Canterbury, more than 11,000ha of shrublands, wetlands and vulnerable land on the margins of rivers such as the Rakaia and Waiau have been converted to pasture since 1990. This reduces biodiversity, increases the pollution load on the rivers, and may increase flood risk.

“A moratorium could be achieved through national environmental standards under the Resource Management Act and changes to the Dairy Industry Restructuring Act to remove the requirement on Fonterra to pick up milk,” said Ms Sage.

ENDS

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