“Dirty Dairying” Is Alive And Well

Despite the TV ad campaign by the dairy industry saying that it wants to be loved and appreciated dirty dairying is alive and well says Fish & Game New Zealand.

“Fifty seven percent of dairy farmers taken in a recent sample in one of New Zealand’s most important dairying regions – the Waikato – have been found flouting rules regarding the spreading of effluent on land according to the local regional council,” says Bryce Johnson, Director of Fish & Game New Zealand.

The Environment Waikato audit also found that 16 percent of farmers were seriously non-compliant. This finding when extrapolated across the whole of the Waikato will mean that 720 of the 4500 Waikato dairy farms are seriously non compliant. According to reports EW is only prosecuting two or three dairy farmers a month, meaning that it would take 20 years to prosecute all offenders.

“This finding makes a farce of the ‘Dairying and Clean Streams Accord’”, says Mr Johnson.

“It is a clear case of failure by this Regional Council to protect the environment. It is a failure of the dairy industry to clean up its act. Instead of wasting money on expensive TV ad campaigns, and running public relations events to crow about their alleged success with the ‘Dairying and Clean streams Accord’, they should be spending money on stopping their poisoning of the environment with nitrate and bugs.”

“This appalling result shows that the soft pedalling approach of Regional Councils and dairy industry’s apologists, Federated Farmers, of using education with farmers ‘leading to voluntary change’ doesn’t work. It appears that some dairy farmers are still slow learners.”

“Regional Councils need to be taken to task for their failure in many cases to deal to the problem, and the dairy industry as well.”

“If anyone doesn’t think there is a problem I suggest they read the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment’s seminal report ‘Growing for Good’ released in November which irrefutably demonstrates the effect of nitrate poisoning is having on our environment.”

“The rest of New Zealand have a right to expect that a public asset - natural water - is clean and unpolluted and not abused by one commercial group who are allowed to get away with pollution by lax monitoring agencies.”

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