Interest in environment jumps

MARK TAYLOR/Waikato Times

PLASTICS RECOVERY: 3R director Bruce Emerson says the agricultural materials recovery services company is popular with Fieldays visitors this year.

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Exhibitors pitching the environmental message at this year's Fieldays say interest from the farming sector has surged dramatically.

Environmentally-friendly farming practises are a major focus at this year's event, with the "My Land, Our Environment" message prominent.

Bruce Emerson, director of Hawke's Bay-based agricultural materials recovery firm 3R, said in previous years few farmers ventured into the stand, but this year a steady stream of visitors was coming through the company's exhibit.

Mr Emerson's firm, which offers agricultural chemical and plastic recovery services, has been at Fieldays for three years, and he had noticed "a good uptake" of its messages and services.

People were "piling in through the tent", a major change from 2007 when few cared to look.

"We don't have to try too hard to get people interested," Mr Emerson said, noting a "rising awareness of environmental issues" in the agricultural sector.

Mr Emerson believed many farmers were coming under increased scrutiny from their own children, who were asking questions such as "why are you burning that plastic wrap?", "shouldn't you recycle that?".

"We put the services out there, and most farmers are aware of the need to improve their on-farm environment."

Mr Emerson said consumers were aware of New Zealand's "clean and green" image, and were more interested in farming practices.

Traditional burn-offs and chemical dumping on farms were no longer acceptable and his firm was able to dispose of farm waste in an environmentally friendly and safe way.

OrganicAg's Paeroa-based Bill Quinn, who has been involved in organic agriculture for 20 years, said farmers were increasingly "switching on" to organic methods, and he pitched the economic benefits of organic production to those who visit his stand.

Certified organic produce, produced using biological rather than chemical methods, was experiencing an increasing demand and farmers could profit from it: "It's the only growth market. Certified organic produce is recognised worldwide as clean and green."

After just one day of Fieldays, Mr Quinn said, he'd spoken to representatives of 15 dairy farms and six sheep farms moving towards fully organic operations.

"They've been talking about it, looking at it, using some of the practices and now they're ready to go the whole hog, and do the job properly," he said.

Pounamu Skelton, national co-ordinator for Te Waka Kai Ora (National Maori Organic Authority), said Maori communities across the country were more enthusiastic about sustainability, particularly on traditional Maori land.

The group was developing hua parakore, a Maori organic agricultural production standard, and it was generating "huge interest" across the agriculture sector.

Maori farmers at Fieldays were particularly interested in the organisation's "pure product" method, using traditional chemical-free and GE-free cultivation methods.

Many Maori farmers were excited about the "new economy potential" being developed by the brand and the growing organic market across the world.

Miss Skelton said Maori farmers had a "point of difference" a relationship with the land which stretched back centuries and the organisation hoped to educate those at Fieldays about the benefits offered by sustainable and traditional practices.

Simon Boxer, Greenpeace's senior climate campaigner, said the global environmental group had decided to front up at Fieldays for the first time, and he had been surprised by the level of support and interest in its stand.

"We're not scared to be here, and in fact we've had a great reception."

Greenpeace was "here to learn" and was keen on feedback from the farming sector, Mr Boxer said.

Greenpeace had identified the farming sector as the biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, however, he believed the agriculture industry had the biggest potential to reduce its emissions. Environmentally friendly methods were a "win-win" for farmers since the branding of products as New Zealand-made and "clean and green" could boost their profits.

Bob Longhurst, AgResearch research associate, said there was considerable interest in the organisation's Tokanui dairy conversion, where AgResearch's work was aimed at minimising phosphate and nutrients leaching from dairy farms into nearby waterways.

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