Rural Delivery: Dairy farmers resented for money attitude

By ROBIN CAMPBELL*

Ten years ago the Southland Dairy Company began to promote Southland as a place with exciting potential for dairy farmers.

Other regions joined and the result has been a three-fold increase in dairy cow numbers throughout the South Island.

The first dairy farmers to migrate south were welcomed for the capital, knowledge and experience that they brought. After years of northward population drift suddenly there was something to attract people back to the south.

Now a study completed as part of the Kellogg Rural Leadership programme reveals that dairy farmers are resented by other members of the community. What has driven this dramatic change in local attitudes?

Southland has been largely given to sheep farming for 50 years. But before that dairy farming was the predominant land use.

So the area is not without a dairying heritage.

Problems have arisen as the direct result of a one-dimensional approach to the expansion of the dairy industry in the south.

The dairy company needed more throughput or it would go broke; the communities had a need (though less pressing) for more people to help maintain the infrastructure. In short, the drivers were economic.

But now everyone realises that regions need a three-dimensional approach to development. Not only do we have economic objectives, but social and environmental objectives as well.

It is on these last two counts that the new dairy farmers find themselves short of community expectations.

Whenever an area experiences declining population, those who are seeking opportunity are among the first to leave.

Those who stay are the ones who value the intrinsic attributes of the place.

So it was predictable that people who came from outside with the express intention of effecting change would meet some resentment.

Enough dairy farmers have acted like the proverbial bull in a china shop to exacerbate the situation. Stories circulate of newly arrived dairy farmers declining invitations to social evenings organised to welcome them to their new district.

Retorts of "we are here to make money not friends," quickly become part of the local folklore.

When pond systems proved an unsuitable method of handling dairy shed effluent, irrigators became the norm. But irrigators require management, and their effectiveness is dependent upon operators, some of whom care more than others.

Roads have not always held up under the strain of increased loads. Silage spread beside your neighbour's house is not a great way to make friends.

Dairy farmers say that they are sick of being blamed for all the South Island's environmental problems.

But the dairy industry is not copping the flak just because of its significant impact. It is copping flak because of its attitude.

Recently an industry representative warned city dwellers contemplating a move into the country that they should be aware of its similarities to an industrial area of a city.

It was pointed out that the noise of machinery and the strong smell of cows and silage are part and parcel of such a move. Fortunately, most people have a more idyllic view of the countryside than that.

The dairy industry started off its present expansionary phase in the South Island with a clean sheet. Now there have been enough instances of environmental abuse and social gaffes to earn it a reputation for placing the pursuit of wealth ahead of all else.

If the dairy industry is sick of dairy farmer bashing it alone holds the solution, just as other industries do when they come under the torch; for example, the tourist industry in Queenstown.

There are three dimensions to the bottom line. Financial, environmental, and social.

* Robin Campbell is a Southland stud sheep farmer and last year's Agricultural Communicator of the Year.