Hello again readers. What a horrible grotty cold wet month August has been. If we weren’t getting frosts then we got rain and heaps of it. it seems to me that every second day I was tipping out 20/30 mls. Lambing is well through with a big drop of lambs right at the end of August.
When we first bought the farm we used to lamb about the same time, the middle of August. But then along came these farmer focus groups and we all got sucked in with this lamb when you have the grass growth bullshit. Oopps excuse the term. Not like me. I used to do pasture cuts,( measuring grass growth) before I got elected to “That” place, you know Horizons Regional Council. But that had to stop, as I just did not have time. Any way I found that pasture growth or to term it correctly ,Dry Matter production took off in August ,30kg per day. Up from 2-3 in July. I went to a Beef/Lamb field day back then, just to show my face, and made this assertion ,immeadiately getting shot to bits by the facilitator. I felt quite confused at the time and a little bit silly. But then once I had time to think about it and a quick reference back to my data, a bit angry. Of course the farmers present would not have any idea just how much DM grows in August on their property ,as more than likely they do not record.
The guts of the argument is that we get caught out real bad with this late lambing nonsence later in the year. Pasture quality drops, ewes and lambs lose condition , and if it gets dry then it becomes difficult to increase pasture production to feed cows with calves at foot well enough to get them back in calf.
That is it in a nut shell. Agriculture has suffered real bad from bad news experts pushing bad science ,and my view is it has been deliberate. Same with fertilizer reps, Phosphate Phosphate. That is all they push. Never mind the soil PH. That is not important? Just who owns the Major Fertilizer Company’s. We the farmers do and our elected directors are supposed to see that we come first. Not on your nelly.
To emphasis this I read in the NZ Farmer 10th August, pg 2 ,yes front page news, “more money for Overseer” you know that nutrient budgeting tool that our own Fertilizer Company owns ,that is designed to measure inputs but now is used to measure outputs of Urine. $ 750 K.
The powers that be in all forms of Government/ Governance quite simply do not want us. End of story. You your self must be coming to that conclusion as well, from the evidence I have supplied via previous posts on this blogg sight.
Lets think about Nationals great election promise. We will amend the RMA. You must vote for us. Well It seems it may have been a shallow promise, and with Winston Peters win in the Northland bye election some months ago, was just the perfect excuse Natonal needed to dump it in the “tooo” hard basket. What aload of noncence. Of course my view is, as I have commented previously ,is that National only wanted the reforms to cover housing but found that no matter what, sec 6 reforms captured all land use and that simply would not do. Thus we have Winny, the Maori Party and Peter Dunn all opposed . If National was really serious they would not support Peter Dunn in the Ohau seat, put up a credible candidate and dump him. This guy is not good news. He is a strong supporter of the Treaty process, and in the last term held a position that enabled significant input into. Any way with Act have they still not got enough votes. There you go.
You will find referrence to the above in the NZ Herald, Thursday 13th August pg D 22.
Just to prove my assertions. The Farming Industry for the last few years has been told that we must spend huge amounts of dosh on environmental initatives and even cut production just to prove to the world that we are truly clean and green, 100% pure just to achieve access to the best paying world markets. Then as I reported some months ago ,out going Silver Farms CEO Kieth Cooper admitted when questioned, that all this noncence is really about just maintaining access and that the consumer is demanding . Is this for real. Are they? Apparently not. here it is, pg 10 NZ Farmers Weekly June 15th 2015. 2 articles. Ag Lacks Vision to extract value, and Exporters miss out on leveraging Brand NZ. Seems NZ exports do not have NZ origin identification or branding at point of purchase. There it is people. What am I saying. Dicked. And dicked on purpose. The reason why governance would go to such lengths. You have read all about it in previous posts.
During August, my mate John and I saw Our MP Ian Mc Kelvie. During the last year of my term in Horizons Regional Council , I recorded all the unethical and unlawfull noncence the Council Advisory Group, Committee, Hearings Panel, what ever , got up to in the environment court ( chapter 5 discharges and water quality). John collated it all together and wrote it up in a readable form. and with help from other influencial people spread it around the appropriate groups/people . The up shot of it is that it found its way into the High Court decision. I must say that Justice Ko’s was really on to it saying that Horizons Regional Council must be held accountable for its actions in the Environment Court. Para 20-23 of the decision. That is a simple interpretation. End of story. Horizons rolled over and put up the white flag.
John is super annoyed that the staff and councilors who are responsible for this horrible state of affairs, have got off scott free. I could see that our minster was not keen at all to go there. So this merely reinforces what I have stated above. Government Ministries must surely be involved. Ministers too. Certainly the high flying and Honerable Minister of Justice back then, Simon Power was, and when confronted with the evidence ,thought about it over the weekend and announced his resignation effective at the next election . Fact.
I have the evidence of the then Minister of Conservation (Kate Wilkinson) admission of interpretations of convienience, with her submission to the environment court on Biodiversity the day after the hearing. Horizons Regional Council has assumned the roles and functions of the Territorial Authorities and she supported that. She is now a gone burger. Used her submission in the High Court Appeal , Property Rights incl v Horizons Regional Council. The next Minister in the gun was non other than the Bull Dog, Judith Collins. Past Minister of Justice, the person who took over from Mr Power. Apparently she should have stepped in and clarified the law, effectively meaning Property Rights was deneighed the proper legal out come. Dirty business, Politics. There it is guys. Ministers and Ministries seeking the political outcomes they desire. It is my view that National is torn assunder from within, with its own left and right brigades. How the party functions in a coesive and public manner is beyond me.
But the real concern to me is that the Area identified in Horizons Regional Plans for “Land Use Change”, and when coupled with anticipated future regulation of land use activity on the balance. Is all breeding country for sheep and cattle. This country restocks the East Coast with sheep and cattle after big droughts. Lose this country to trees and overly restrictive rules and regulation. You lose the North Is Meat and Wool Industries. What a huge social up heavel and associated problems which will follow.
On that note our Districts Special Economic Development Area report is out. Our Mayor is trumpeting the report as a huge success, identifying a path forward to prosperity for all. Tourism, Manuka Honey and vegetables. No, Sheep and Beef do not matter. The farm next door to us was sold in June and is now in the process of being planted in Red Wood Trees. Carbon I presume.
Might take a interest in the Manuka Honey side of it, as we already lease a sight to a Aparist, who does not honour his financial commitment, so might tell him to pee off and explore the financial and phyisical side of it further. My wifes sister is a banker and she is saying “Diversify” . Hmm. Abit scary.
Bye for now.