Fonterra fears stalls mar brand

BY MARC GREENHILL

Large-scale "cubicle" farming could tarnish New Zealand's reputation for free-range dairy products, dairy giant Fonterra says.

Three companies have sought resource consents for 16 new dairy farm developments in the Mackenzie Basin, with nearly 18,000 cows to be housed in cubicle stables.

Under the plans, cows will be confined in the stalls 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.

Fonterra milk supply manager Tim Deane said the company had "real concerns" about the environmental sustainability of stall-based farming.

New Zealand had been showcased as an example of a country using free-range systems by the World SPCA, he said.

"We will be watching carefully to see if the farms are able to comply with the regulations governing animal welfare and sustainable land use."

Deane said Fonterra was comfortable with dairy-farming techniques that supported pasture-based farming, such as feed pads and supplementary feeding.

"We don't believe stall-based farming of this type is consistent with New Zealand's reputation as a source of dairy products from substantially grass-fed cows."

Prime Minister John Key said there was a chance the country's reputation could be jeopardised.

"That can always be a risk, but I think the reality is the bulk of New Zealand farming is done on a pastoral basis," he said.

"Anyone who drives around New Zealand will see that."

Federated Farmers dairy vice-chairman Willy Leferink said it was likely fewer than 1 per cent of the country's 4.25 million cows were being kept in cubicles.

Winter housing would be used only where necessary due to cost, he believed.

The system was popular in Europe and North America, where winters were harsh.

"I've seen in outfits in America that have 3000 cows in cubicles and they were absolutely fantastic," Leferink said.

"They're very animal-friendly, very clean and green, and probably even more environmentally sound than what we practice here." Cows would not produce milk in "hostile" environments, he said.

"For these cubicles to work, the cows need to perform at the top end of their ability and they only do that if they're given a very desirable environment.

"They just shut up shop otherwise."

Southland farmer Abe de Wolde, who has used winter housing on two of his four farms for the past five years, said the cubicle description was misleading.

"People picture animals retained in small spaces, but it's not true at all," he said.

"These animals can wander around and do their own thing as much as they want."

His cows were inside 24 hours a day for less than three months, could lie down on rubber mats at all times, and had alleys to walk in that were automatically cleaned.

De Wolde said cows were milked an average of only 250 days in Southland and keeping them indoors provided an additional 50 milking days.

"It's time to acknowledge that there's different local climates and there needs to be different ways for working with them.

"For Canterbury, it's irrigation, and for Southland, it's winter housing."

More than 1.4 million of New Zealand's 4.25 million cows are in the South Island, new dairy figures show.

South Island average herd sizes were increasing faster than in the North Island and were now 546 cows per herd, compared with 314 in the north.

North Canterbury, which stretches from Hurunui to Ashburton, had the country's largest average-herd size (723 cows) and the highest cows per hectare (3.28).

South Canterbury follows with 3.25.

- © Fairfax NZ News