$52,500 fine for effluent mismanagement
A Taupiri farming company has been convicted and fined $52,500 in the Hamilton District Court for the unlawful discharge of dairy effluent into the environment.
Effluent irrigation expert Stuart Reid, Spitfire Revolution, was recently called to Southland to attend to a bridge mixing propeller fouled by a rope.
Repairs were urgently needed because the pond level was as low as it would ever be, and what with milking (and the supply of effluent to the pond) just beginning, the window of opportunity was narrow. Otherwise the job was a summer one.
Reid says he has no idea why, but he was inspired to put this episode into verse. At a time when many farmers are struggling, this may lighten the mood out there:
Upon a Southland Bridge*
There was dung
and there was urine,
there was odour, sludge and grot,
but my call was to block my nose
and service problems that arose
and fix the bloody lot.
For McGinty though he cared for things,
had gone and stuffed the prop,
by wrapping it with rope so bad
the mixing thing had stopped.
Well stuffed is a polite word
when 'effed' would best be used,
so I set to work in ice and snow
that McGinty and his team could go
and mix it as they should.
Now Southland has 'big' weather
in the winter months my friends,
and McGinty 's call for help came
at a grim time – comprehend?
When heavy snow and blackened ice
pervade the country day and night,
I had to go for the pond was low
and the time to mend was ripe.
I toiled and swore and grunted
with my mittens wet and cold,
and my fingers didn't work as well
as in the days of old;
but I ground along, ignored the pong
and rarely raised my eyes
to the black-as-soot horizon
threatening all the whole day long.
And finally when I had settled
all within my power,
I headed back to my Balfour hutch
to malinger in the shower.
The mixer wasn't working yet
but the task was mostly done;
I could see an end to a rotten job
looking toward the warming hob
to getting home to my comfy mob
and bathing in some sun.
*With a nod to William Wordsworth.
• Editor’s note: if you have a poem or snippet that would help lighten the mood onfarm, email it to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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