Posts by Farmer Green
Last ←Newer Page 1 2 3 4 5 Older→ First
-
Hard News: Fact and fantasy, in reply to mark taslov,
I meant in the context where Godzone has a competitive advantage in the production of clean, green foodstuffs. A free market, such as it is , is necessarily competitive , is it not?
“This is not a finite set of problems ”
Possibly; sustainability is not a yes or no . It is always relative until the sun goes out.
It is not clear what you mean by shortcuts ; the shorter the better , one would have thought.
-
Hard News: Fact and fantasy, in reply to mark taslov,
. From any other angle it looks like our collective shortsightedness.
There is an element of that , but on the positive side we have had only a very short time in which to soil our nest , and arguably we have become aware of the problems much sooner than most.
Is it naive or unrealistic to think that we will fix the problems before any other nations do , even if it means a reduced national income (it does not necessarily mean that of course)?And to be fair, it is only about 50 years (maybe less ) since we became aware that there was a problem with agriculture. Some farmers have changed their practice in that time but most have not , and a small number have become considerably more damaging as a result of the overstocking that is possible with irrigation , nitrogen fertiliser , purchased supplements, and “dairy support”.
The last-mentioned class would have been the subject of ridicule only a few decades ago for “buying their production”. That phrase was a synonym for carrying more stock than one’s farm could support. -
Hard News: Fact and fantasy, in reply to Chris Waugh,
it’s no good for tourists to go back home and tell their friends and families that the few people there are have a terrible attitude to that beautiful and formerly clean environment.
Farmer Green thinks that it really doesn’t matter what they say if tourism aka recreational pollution ceases in a more enlightened future. If no more tourists come to Godzone , would that not be a good thing, cetera paribus , for the environment?
-
Hard News: Fact and fantasy, in reply to Chris Waugh,
"But the problem isn’t limited to agriculture."
Agreed ; a large proportion of the phosphorus entering our waters is coming from the cities and towns via the sewage outfalls to waterways.
-
Hard News: Fact and fantasy, in reply to Sacha,
". . . we don’t have to do without technology to have sustainable farming."
Agreed , but less export dollars = less imported technology.
Farmer Green's point is that we have to somehow reach a consensus about how much environmental exploitation we will tolerate in return for modern technological comforts. -
Hard News: Fact and fantasy, in reply to Sacha,
It is a very short- term view to hold that the export dollars end up in fewer people's pockets than the " en masse". You can't take it with you , you know. It will be spent one way or another i.e. it will be dissipated.
But can you address the question of which option the masses would have preferred , given the choice?
The trinkets or more water reaching the oceans?
It is acknowledged that the result of the sucking up of the water was enrichment of the waterways. -
Hard News: Fact and fantasy, in reply to Matthew Poole,
Do you mean that the citizens, en masse, would have preferred to have fewer microwave ovens, LCDs , new cars ,synthetic carpets ,heat pumps, imported foods , computers etc. etc. etc., rather than have the increased export dollars that resulted from the sucking up of the water?
-
Any talk about a 'natural environment' in Godzone is a little wide of the mark.
Yes we do have relatively more of those assets fitting this description than most other countries and it is nearly all to be found in the conservation estate.
But the fact is that we cut down the forests to establish pasture, and introduced the trout which destroyed the ecology of Lake Taupo a very long time ago.Farmer Green thinks that it matters little in the long run what tourists think of our agricultural practice, tourism being essentially recreational pollution. Tourism may become a thing of the past , or the pastime of only the mega- rich.
A common view is that the lack of human population makes the destination attractive.It does matter what those offshore who buy our food think of the way we operate; the common view is that we are reliable clean operators producing safe nutritious food in a reasonably sustainable fashion , at least in comparison to what goes on elsewhere.
The most important thing is that our exploitation of our environment is sustainable i.e. the resource base is not being depleted. And it is equally important that we residents are comfortable with the compromises that are necessary to maintain the altered environment, economy and society that we all wish to live in.
In this regard it must be noted , as other scientists at Massey have repeatedly pointed out, that we cannot have fertile soils without having some enrichment of the waterways.
No phosphorus added to the deficient soils of NZ = little or no production.