September 04, 2019
Dairy accord for show as tougher rules loom
An environmental group says a voluntary accord put up by the dairy industry is yet another attempt to put off real action to restore the health of the nation's rivers and lakes.
Dairy leaders yesterday released their Sustainable Dairy: Water Accord, getting ahead of tomorrow's government announcement on its fresh water policy.
Choose Clean Water spokesperson Marnie Prickett says the dairy statement ignores the significant intensification of dairying that has occurred since the industry first put an accord in place.
She says while agreements to fence off waterways are good, they don't offset the damage done by having more cows on the land.
"So they sound good, they sound like the dairy industry is making progress but at the same time the dairy industry and its leaders have not committed to reducing their intensity, to destocking, to lowering their stocking rates, to using less fertiliser, and those are the things that would actually make a difference to our waterways and improving the health of them," Ms Prickett says.
Choose Clean Water want to see the farming leaders support strong rules rather than continue to claim they can regulate themselves.
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