On an NZ Facebook page about farming this week I came across an interesting post written by a Veterinarian from the Wairarapa.
[…] Fast forward to 2019 and it feels like agriculture is under attack. It feels like a small number of anti-farming activists have dominated the media in such a way that agriculture is being marginalised. Schoolchildren bring home anti-farming propaganda from school, telling them that drinking milk destroys the environment.
Pictures of cows in streams and calves in abattoirs make the news, normal good farming practices don’t.
[…] SAFE and PETA and the like are anti-farming groups not pro-animal groups. They are not interested in improving animal welfare, their mandate is to tell lies to destroy farming. They want to stop all use of animals, including things like police dogs and blind guide dogs, regardless of whether that use is ethical, sustainable, and welfare-friendly. […]
She points out that while cities get away with flushing raw sewage onto beaches dairy farms operate under a nutrient management plan with tight constraints over where they can spread effluent.
She also points out that while a great fuss is made about cow farts (methane) transport and industry continue to increase their emissions unchecked. I also learned that vegans in New Zealand get most of their food imported from overseas, often from countries with “much worse environmental practices than in NZ and without our regulatory oversight.”
For example turning down ethically raised, environmentally friendly pasture-raised beef (i.e. beef from NZ), in favour of soybeans grown in Brazil on a deforested rainforest, or irrigated cashews grown with child labour and high pesticide input in Sumatra.
Another point she makes is how livestock in NZ like sheep and cows are getting their physical and social needs better met than most pet dogs or cats who are left alone for long periods of the day.
Slaughterhouses go to ridiculous lengths to ensure that animals are killed without stress and are unaware of what is coming. The way we raise livestock in New Zealand has some of the best animal welfare standards in the world.
Anti-farming groups don’t care about animal welfare. If they did, they would promote good farming practices and measures that farmers do purely for animal welfare, like shearing sheep. […]
They pretend that we are cutting down old-growth forests to graze animals – actually, there is more biodiversity on sheep and beef farms than any other land use. Over 80% of sheep and beef farms are planting up land to protect sensitive environments. There are more native trees on sheep and beef farms than any other land use except for national parks.
At the end of the day, New Zealand pastoral farming is ethical, sustainable and welfare-friendly. If you are a farmer look into the mirror at the end of each day and say “actually, I’m doing a bloody good job!” If we can’t persuade the ignorant city people of how good we are, then at least support each other.
facebook.com/NZFarming/
