Indoor cubicles for cows planned
BY PAUL GORMAN
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National
Three companies want to build massive dairy farms in the Mackenzie Basin, where cows would live in "cubicle" stables most of the time.
Opponents warn the plan will tarnish New Zealand's environmental reputation.
Proposals by the three companies for resource consents for 16 new dairy farm developments managing nearly 18,000 cows housed in cubicle stables are before Environment Canterbury (ECan).
Under the plans, cows will be confined in cubicle stables 24 hours a day for eight months of the year, from March to October, and allowed outside for 12 hours a day from November to February.
The Green Party says the applications for land around the southern end of Lake Ohau and near Omarama mark the dawn of a new age of dairy farming in New Zealand.
"We've seen the dairy intensification happening and now we're into industrial factory dairy farming, pure and simple," co-leader Russel Norman told The Press.
If the proposals went ahead, vast amounts of cow urine and faeces would be discharged on to land daily, threatening pristine high country lakes and rivers with pollution and algal blooms.
Using Environment Waikato data that cows produced 15 times more waste than humans, it would be "like building a city for 270,000 people in the Mackenzie Basin and having them crap on the ground", Norman said.
"They are applying for effluent storage ponds to store 400 million litres of effluent and want to release 1.7m litres of that to land a day."
Federated Farmers dairy chairman Lachlan McKenzie said cows being kept in cubicle stables was "not like pigs in a sow crate".
There were different designs but generally cows could sleep in their own cubicle and move into the stable or outside to feed and socialise.
The Mackenzie Country applications, which give environmental consultants Mitchell Partnerships in Dunedin as their address, have been made by:
Southdown Holdings, for six dairy farms with up to 7000 cows;
Five Rivers, for seven dairy farms with up to 7000 cows; and
Williamson Holdings, for three dairy farms with up to 3850 cows.
The first set of resource consent applications for water takes for irrigation are being heard now, and the second set for the effluent discharges are open for public submissions until December 18.
Norman said keeping cows in cubicle stable they did not leave for eight months was a "radical departure from our tradition of farming stock outside and on pasture".
It could do "immense harm to our clean, green international brand" and was extremely concerning from the animal welfare perspective.
"Fonterra counters food-miles arguments from European competitors by saying our milk products are more environmentally friendly than factory-farmed milk.
"This proposal flies in the face of that strategy.
"They are doing this, I presume, because it is cold and such inhospitable dairy country. But it is stupid – it is iconic brown-tussock country, extremely valuable to tourism. People do not travel around the world to look at factory farms."
Agriculture Minister David Carter said he wanted New Zealand's special landscapes to be maintained.
"I am concerned about the proliferation of dairying in fragile environments. They shouldn't be allowed to proceed unless we can be sure they can mitigate any adverse environment effects.
"On the other aspect, providing it adheres to acceptable animal welfare standards, I don't think there are issues there," Carter said.
McKenzie said it was "rubbish" of the Greens to suggest the cows would be confined to a cubicle, he said.
"It's a bit rich for the Greens because they are telling people that should have these sorts of homes for stock to keep them off pastures.
"You collect the nitrogen on concrete, put it into a bunker and then spread the nutrients very lightly across the paddock so the grass can fully utilise it so you don't have the leachate into a normal grazing situation. From an environmental point of view they are trying to do the right thing."
- The Press
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Cow Cubicles is an unfortunate phrase used here. The effluent from this farming system could be enough to produce 3MW of continuous electricity supply, and 6MW of heat for cow comfort and drying the effluent. Sounds pretty exciting - especially if the effluent were dried... We've been generating heat and injecting power into the MainPower network using biogas since 2006.
Emma, thanks for bringing some sense to these morons who have apparently never seen a real cow in their lives. Obviously a cow would be much more comfortable in a warm sheltered accomodation than standing in a paddock 24/7 throughout the NZ winter.
this is the world gone mad, the last thing New Zealand needs Even to think of it is madness.
There is no way that this can happen, it is natural for a cow to graze on pasture, NOT in a cubical, (low life farming) not to mention how cruel it is, we have enough land, and Steve you are a waste of space, why do you think that your life is worth more than a animals, i would like to see you penned up in a confined area smaller than a jail cell.
This proposal is counter to all that makes New Zealand exports superior to others in the world. There is a groundswell of international opinion that is leading people all over the world to seek dairy products from cows that graze naturally.GM-free crops and GE free animals feeding on natural grass will, above all else, ensure export markets for NZ.
If corporations wish to profit from the Mackenzie Basin they should do so in coordination with nature, not against it. NZ is good at innovation. There are a ton of ways to innovate within the guidelines of nature. This proposal of greed is against all tenets of nature and the natural environment. These corporation should move to other countries. Leave what competitive advantages New Zealand has alone. Right now, the health of the water supply of Canterbury is being threatened by these idiots. Where will they move to when it is all contaminated. We must all be prepared to fight for one of our most pure resources. Yours sincerely
i'm disgusted and angry that this proposal is even being considered. if we want to continue living on this planet we have to start treating it with respect, not destroying the environment even more and creating more pollution. we should be trying to lessen our emissions, how is more farming going to help? agriculture is where most of our emissions come from. to steve #153: you said: "Get in touch with reality people, the worlds population is growing and we need more and more food to feed people". you get in touch with reality steve, yes the population is growing but farming animals is not the answer. you can feed a hell of a lot more people on a piece of land growing vegetables than you can farming cattle, using a lot less water and causing a lot less pollution.
Have any of you ever actually set foot on a dairy farm?!
I have never read so much ill-informed, knee-jerk Townie responses in my life. Cubicle yards are absolutely fine from a welfare pov - they are well used all over the world. They are a very good welfare system for cows.
Personally I'd be a good deal more worried about DoC poisoning New Zealand's wildlife with 1080 than I would about 3 cubicle yards for dairy cows. Priorities, people...!!
This is akin to the welfare issues of battery hens and sow-stalls - pretty much the lowest forms of farming. The investors are only concerned with profit and animal welfare hardly comes into the equation. Trying to justify the scheme by stating that controlling waste will be improved is B.S, intensively farmed the quantities will be much greater. 600kg on rubber mats to hide the health issues of walking on concrete floor. Barns probably only justifable midwinter as all shelter cutdown for irrigation. I Wonder how many antibiotics will be required to control disease in confined areas.. so wrong on so many levels.
Nz is far behind the rest of the world,My company has been try to get government to support our Clean Power System for over 5 years.We are able to treat effluent to clean organic fertillzer and generate power from the Methane that can be feed back to the grid It is not the technology that is need, that is already here. It is just the will to make it happen or a law change we need. Phil Stanley, Hinds Mid Canterbury
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Disgusting! ...and the word human is supposed to be derived from the word humane.