'Cubicle' farmers attack Greens

Proponents of new-style dairying have hit back at Green Party accusations of "factory farming" in the Mackenzie Basin.

Last month, the Herald reported three companies-Southdown Holdings, Five Rivers and Williamson Holdings-had lodged consent applications with Environment Canterbury.

Should the proposed applications go ahead, the companies would install more than a dozen free-standing dairy farms with about 17,000 cows over 8000 hectares.

The cows would be in "cubicle stables" 24 hours a day for eight months of the year, and 12 hours a day for the remaining four months. The consent applications include effluent ponds with 414 million litres of storage capacity and plans to put as much as 1.7 million litres of diluted effluent onto the land every day.

Green Party leader Russel Norman publicly criticised the proposal as "factory farming" yesterday, arguing it would severely compromise New Zealand's clean and green reputation.

However, Southdown Holdings director Richard Peacocke told the Herald that the Green Party did not have their facts right.

"Factory farming implies that stock are unduly restricted with no ability to walk, communicate with their mates, lick each other, or sit in the sun," he said.

"On the 2000 ha of Glen Eyrie we propose to have 12 cubicle barns – each capable of holding 600 cows. The overall stocking rate is 3.5 cows per hectare, very similar in comparison to coastal Canterbury.

"They will have their own protected area in which to stand or sit on a large pliable rubber mat which is designed to mitigate risk of lameness."

Mr Peacocke said that as the Mackenzie Basin had a continental climate, with extreme temperature changes, the proposed cubicle barn system was a sensible option.

"We would invite the Green Party to study the detailed farm environmental management plans and meet the applicants to understand just what is proposed and then they could comment with some knowledge," he said.

"There are a considerable number of cubicle barns already in operation in New Zealand that could be visited to gain an understanding of the system."

He said as the farms would introduce sophisticated management techniques, including storage ponds for effluent, there would be very little risk of nitrate leaching.

"The world population is proposed to double in the next 50 years and if this is true, then the focus of a caring society should be ensuring that every opportunity to increase production of food is encouraged rather than attacking those parties who are prepared to back themselves... to achieve this very goal," he said. Public submissions on the consent applications close on December 18.

- © Fairfax NZ News