Misguided campaign
OPINION: Last week, Greenpeace lit up Fonterra's Auckland headquarters with 'messages from the common people' - that the sector is polluting the environment.
They were among more than 12,000 people who registered nationally to attend Open Gates on November 11 and 500 staff volunteered on the day.
Eight hundred people booked within two days to attend the Helensville farm of fourth-generation farmers Scott and Sue Narbey, but heavy clouds deterred some Aucklanders from turning up. “Feedback has been overwhelmingly positive,” a Fonterra spokesman told Rural News.
“People have said it was eye-opening, that the Fonterra team and farmers were warm and welcoming, and they appreciated the opportunity to visit a dairy farm. The special edition Tip Top jersey caramel ice cream was also a hit.”
The Narbeys opened their gates for the second year running because they say they wanted to get good news stories out about dairy farming. They answered questions from visitors including how many hours staff work and supplementary feeding.
Their 155ha milking platform and 410-cow system 5 operation won the Auckland Ballance Farm Environment Awards in 2017 and Scott says he was proud to open their environmental work to the public. It required extra work but it meant the farm got a spring clean before Christmas.
Their 44-bail rotary cowshed is set up to allow one person to milk through most of the season.
This includes automatic cup removal, Protrack drafting, in-shed feeding and EZ Heat camera. Water tanks and pumps are monitored using the Water Smart system at the main house, allowing pumps to be turned on and off to minimise water and power use.
Sound-bites they got from visitors included:
“We have a lot of dairy farms back in India and it was interesting to compare the difference. In India we have a much more traditional and manual version of agriculture but here the technology and quality tracking is very advanced.”– Hari, Mt Albert.
“Living in a built-up area, we wanted to show the kids what it’s like onfarm. It’s surprising to see the level of technology and how professional things are. The lengths they go to are incredible. It shows they’re pretty open and transparent.” – Charlie & Glen.
