Questions the cows want answered

BY: PAT BOOTH

OPINION: In four words: "What about the cows?"

That's my reaction to the government's move on what are now, you'll notice, labelled "cow stables"?

Switching the hearings from standard Resource Management Act processes to a specialist board of inquiry must meet worried people's concerns about the environment and water quality.

Not "could" meet - must meet.

That far so good. But the government move doesn't go far enough - presumably because animal welfare is not a consideration under the Resource Management Act

Environment Minister Nick Smith is right to be deeply concerned at what he describes as the effluent equivalent of a city of 250,000 people coming out of those high-tech stables.

But a revised hearing format must also take into account the welfare of the 17,000-plus cows which are at the central core of the original proposal.

The figure the planners quote of 75 percent of the world's dairy cows being housed in one way or another doesn't cut any ice with me.

What others - including Fonterra - do in China or elsewhere is not an issue in this significant debate.

New Zealand has historically farmed in a particular and highly successful and efficient way - long before "clean, green" became a catch-all PC cliche.

The plans for the Mackenzie Basin are a long way from that tradition. I believe that animal welfare issues as well as water quality safeguards should be a top item on any inquiry agenda.

No suggestion the planners haven't convinced themselves that their plan is workable and humane.

In the days before the government decision, one of the companies involved sent me unsolicited details. I was impressed.

But that's not the same as being convinced.

Richard Peacocke, director and project manager of Southdown and Williamson Holdings Ltd, describes its proposal involving 7000 cows on 2000 hectares, 3.5 cows per hectare, as "head and shoulders better than any other farm management system in the country - and a major move against pollution of waterways, lakes and ground water".

I don't question his sincerity nor the detailed work his company has done and which he describes in typically basic rural style.

He cites rampant rural water pollution across the whole country and says its plan is the outcome of two years' scientific research by farmers in the basin - "a fully controlled management system to ensure that inadvertent nutrient discharge is eliminated".

"It wasn't anticipated at that time that we would be considering a stable operation.

"The stables were a recent modification in response to conservative advice as to how best to control and mitigate possible negative effects to the environment of cows on the land during the long, cold winters in the Mackenzie Basin.

"We looked at the herd home model but it doesn't come anywhere near to managing animal welfare issues that stall stables offers.

"Have you ever seen a herd of cows in a herd home?

"They're covered in crap as they sit on concrete where they crap and there is nowhere else to lie.

"Cows in loose stables have far more room.

"The term factory farming is emotive and suggestive of cows in pig crates or similar.

"The reality is the cows free range within a barn environment, have access to grass/balage/silage on demand and sleep on rubber mats with each cow separated by a pipe frame on three sides with the freedom to come and go at will."

He says how long the cows are housed at any particular time would depend on the results of on and off-farm monitoring.

If that shows the environment is not being adversely affected then they'll be progressively released to graze the land directly.

My townie-type questions and his answers:

Question:

Does this mean the system would progressively change to a combination of "stables" and "normal grazing" - and what would you then expect the ratio of time spent in the stables and on pasture to be?

Answer:

"We'd expect the monitoring will eventually ... show a level of discharge to allow the cows to be outside for 7/8 months of the year.

"It is always intended that cows will be housed during winter due to cold weather (-18c has been recorded)."

Question:

And how long would it be before such a variation takes effect?

Answer:

"Not sure, but probably five to seven years."

Question:

You mention those extremely low temperatures - how will the buildings be heated?

Answer:

"The cows will generate sufficient heat to warm the stables and temperature will be regulated by temperature-controlled vents - much like greenhouses.

"The roof of the barn is alternatively clear or steel, providing lots of light.

"The sides are open and the breeze flows freely during times of heat, or screens can be lowered to block out cold winds and rain as required.

"Intermittently, there are rotating back-scratchers and the cows can congregate with their mates as they wish."

Question:

Where will they calve?

Answer:

"The due cows will be contained in a separated area of the stable for calving and the calves will be moved into calf houses on arrival as is normal in the traditional dairy system."

Question:

What will be sown in the pasture and how will it be tended to when the cows are long-term in stables?

Answer:

"The pasture will be traditional and new species grass pastures with some greenfeed wheat (probably).

"Instead of cows grazing on site, it will be cut, wilted in the sun for 12 to 24 hours and then carted to the stables and stored as silage/balage in concrete lined silos.

"In addition to the grass/silage, cows in milk will be fed grain (barley mix) as is traditional in normal dairy farming operations."

You can see the extent of the planning and, in particular, theoretical attention to the welfare of the cows obvious in those answers. Even to back-scratchers.

Okay I accept that computer projections may suggest this is the most economically efficient way to convert this often cold, barren, inhospitable land to dairy farming without endangering those environmental factors.

But do we need to do it, why go there anyway and how would it really work in practice?

Statistically, I am far from alone in this. An estimated three out of every four of the nearly 5000 submissions on the cow stables plan are said to involve some concerns over the welfare of the animals.

So back to my opening question: It may be an interesting exercise for farming theorists, a worthwhile venture for rural corporates, a new outlet for investors. But what does it mean for the cows?

- © Fairfax NZ News