North Canterbury News: September 26, 2019
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RURAL<br />
37 <strong>North</strong> <strong>Canterbury</strong> <strong>News</strong>, <strong>September</strong> <strong>26</strong>, <strong>2019</strong><br />
Dairy farmers see benefits in trees<br />
By SHELLEY TOPP<br />
KAIKOURA RESIDENTS<br />
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The trend in recent yearsoffelling trees<br />
on some New Zealand dairy farmstomake<br />
way for giant irrigationpivots is changing,<br />
says Cameron Henderson.<br />
The <strong>North</strong> <strong>Canterbury</strong> Federated<br />
Farmers president, who is also deputy<br />
chairman of the Waimakariri WaterZone<br />
Committee, said he planted7000 treeson<br />
his Oxford farm last winter, and planting<br />
trees is now atrend on dairy farms.<br />
‘‘There have been anumber of recent<br />
eventsthat haveencouraged more tree<br />
planting,’’ he says, citing BillionTrees<br />
funding, double fencing of boundaries for<br />
Mycoplasma bovis protection, farm<br />
environment plans and good management<br />
practice audits.<br />
The Animal Welfare Act, which says<br />
adequate sheltermust be provided for<br />
farm animals, is also likely to be afactor,<br />
as is the Dairy NZ website’s heatstress<br />
informationrecommendation to plant<br />
trees forshelter and shade.<br />
‘‘Heatstress in summer is an interesting<br />
subject here in <strong>Canterbury</strong>,’’ he says.<br />
‘‘Cowsgenerallycome under heat stress at<br />
above 21 degrees Celsius when humidity is<br />
at least 70%.’’<br />
<strong>Canterbury</strong> temperatures often reach<br />
above 21 degrees but humidity is generally<br />
low and there is often abreeze and ready<br />
accesstocool drinking water.<br />
Work is under way to assess heatstress<br />
in more detail, but currentguidance on<br />
dairy cow heatstress can be foundat<br />
dairynz.co.nz/animal/cowhealth/heatstress/.<br />
The website points out thatcows suffer<br />
heat stresssimilartohumans with<br />
headaches, irritability and lethargy. They<br />
will alsodecreasemilk production during<br />
these times and will seekshade, crowd<br />
Trees for the future ... <strong>North</strong><strong>Canterbury</strong> Federated Farmers president and deputy chairman<br />
of the Waimakariri Water Zone Committee CameronHendersononhis Oxford dairyfarm last<br />
winter, where he has been running amajor planting programme.<br />
PHOTO: SUPPLIED<br />
together to shade each other,refuse to lie<br />
down, change orientationtothe sun and<br />
stand in water, or next to troughs to try to<br />
cooldown.<br />
Earlierthis year, Cameronvisited Brazil<br />
on an agriculturalscholarship, and<br />
discovered manyfarmers there also<br />
recognisedthe importanceoftrees.<br />
‘‘Most largescale farmers we talked to<br />
understood the important role the Amazon<br />
rainforestplayed in the rainfall patterns<br />
in the country’s interior, which is vital for<br />
their agriculture, says Cameron, who<br />
points out thereislittle irrigationinland.<br />
‘‘The previous Government had<br />
introducedafantastic range of policies to<br />
protectthe rainforest and the farmers I<br />
spoke to were very proudofthe policies,’’<br />
he says.<br />
‘‘But the current Government is very<br />
different.New policieshave lead to the<br />
Amazonrainforest fires which continue to<br />
burn one month after farmers were<br />
blamedfor startingthem to clear land.<br />
‘‘The change in direction under<br />
Brazilian presidentJair Bolsonaro’s<br />
leadership has been made worsebythe<br />
trade war driving up returns for Brazilian<br />
crops and the expansion of agricultural<br />
land into forested areas. The old Brazilian<br />
policies were much stricteronmonitoring<br />
deforestation,althoughnot perfect.’’<br />
All farmers had to include acertain<br />
percentage of native forestry on their<br />
properties.The closer to the Amazon they<br />
were, the greater the percentage(up to<br />
90% next to the Amazon). This meantalot<br />
of fencing and regenerating forest.<br />
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