Fonterra targets dirty dairying

Fonterra is pressing ahead with its plans to dock its farmers' milk cheques for "dirty dairying", though in the coming season they will be assessed only as an information-gathering exercise.

"But there will be a review in 12 months, and the assessment will be included in the terms and conditions of supply in the future," said Fonterra chairman Henry van der Heyden.

Today Fonterra will sign its controversial Dairying and Clean Streams Accord with Government ministers and regional councils.

When the new dairy season starts on Sunday, Fonterra will assess all its suppliers against a number of environmental standards.

Farmers have strongly criticised being compelled by their own milk company to meet environmental standards, but were warned of the moves a year ago.

Fonterra environmental manager Shane Lodge told a dairy farmers' meeting last year in Wellington about the monitoring plans.

He said the necessary guidelines - to make sure the industry is up to the expectations of customers in its key export markets - had already been tried out on farmers in Canterbury, Southland and Marlborough.

Van der Heyden said he was pleased the environmental assessments had the support of the company's Shareholders' Council.

After years of considerable investment and hard work, Fonterra's manufacturing plants were performing well on environmental measures, and the same could be said of many of its suppliers' farms.

"But we need to ensure that all our suppliers are working towards clear environmental goals, and that we are able to demonstrate that progress to customers and the world."

Van der Heyden said there would be no immediate change to the conditions of supply, but the accord to be signed with the Government would give a "direction of travel".

The chairman of the Dairy Farmers of New Zealand, Kevin Wooding, of Te Awamutu, warned almost a year ago that Fonterra planned to implement some type of environmental measurement as part of farmers' right of supply.

The introduction of a dairy industry environmental policy had been a "political compromise" by the industry's leaders.

Federated Farmers vice-president Charlie Pedersen has previously said his executive "had to be dragged kicking and screaming into acceptance of the Dairy Board's environmental and animal welfare proposals".

A committee "dominated by marketers in the Dairy Board" had hastily drawn up the original proposals for environmental standards, he said in May 2001.

The dairy section of Federated Farmers had argued there should be a discussion paper to get farmer views, but the board argued the only way to get the proposals through was to make them a fait accompli.

Since then the Environment Ministry has reported that overseas publicity about "dirty dairying" could cost billions of dollars in lost business for products sold as "clean and green".

- NZPA