The Royal New Zealand Navy recently spilled 200 to 400 litres of oil into Akaroa Harbour. Reported, it was less than 400 litres, less than two well-known 44 gallon drums. The reaction was almost instant. Boats were out sweeping up the oil. Canterbury Regional Council officers were there and of course the television cameras and others, who had a view on oil pollution and the effects on the wildlife.
Quite clearly, nature or anything or anyone wants oil in or on the water.
However, Waikato Regional Council in accord with the Department of Conservation happily spreads poison, not including the deadly toxic 1080 and in quantity 50 metric tonnes of concentrate, around 170 times the quantity the Royal NZ Navy spilled and there are no television cameras, no wildlife monitoring, apparently no responsibility, year after year, all aided and abetted by the Environment Court.
In the last issue of a well-known farming paper, ‘Farmers Weekly” the report covers the successful trapping of wild pigs in Northland. Thirty-eight pigs had been trapped using three traps. The traps are portable and are self-setting enabling the capture of a number of pigs, successfully turning a pest into a food resource. However, the wild pork can only remain a food resource as long as the authorities do not start pouring 1080 poison into the bush, making the wild pig a poisoned or semi-poisoned animal and rendering the pork unfit for consumption – DOC taking potential food off the table.
Changing the subject nitrogen has again hit the headlines detected as rising to dangerous levels in groundwater particularly in Southland and Canterbury. Well the boffins told the farmers to spread the nitrogen. If there is a short term shortage of cattle feed, bang on some nitrogen as the quickest way to get growth.
Let us look at some figures. In 2019, NZ farmers spread 452,000 tonnes of nitrogen up from 59,000 tonnes in 1990. That is seven times as much.
Look at some more figures. On every hectare of the planet, there is 100,000 tonnes of atmosphere. It is hard to believe, but even more staggering is the fact that of that 100,000 tonnes, 78,000 tonnes is nitrogen – just under four-fifths of the air mass. The nitrogen in the air is free; it is already spread. Farmers only have to get the soil to harvest free nitrogen by developing the soil biology. Clover goes some of the way, but not all the way. The biology of the soil is the key. On this farm and our previous farm, it was never ever necessary to spread nitrogen on pasture.
In 2026, nitrogen is retailing at or around $1000.00 a tonne. This comes to a staggering $452,000,000 being spent on fertiliser that nature is providing for free. However our Government is going to import liquid natural gas to facilitate the production of more nitrogen fertiliser, ignoring natural resources.
DOC is back in the ‘news’ again. The Informer Issue 1200 carries an advertisement notifying the public that feral deer have been observed in the Coromandel Forest Park. Does this indicate a change of heart with DOC now willing to liaise with the Peninsula residents, something DOC were unwilling to do when strong protest movements were organised against the use of poison in the park namely 1080?
Co-operation is desirable by all means, but it is a two way street.
