The Country
  • The Country home
  • Latest news
  • Audio & podcasts
  • Opinion
  • Dairy farming
  • Sheep & beef farming
  • Rural business
  • Rural technology
  • Rural life
  • Listen on iHeart radio

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • Coast & Country News
  • Opinion
  • Dairy farming
  • Sheep & beef farming
  • Horticulture
  • Animal health
  • Rural business
  • Rural technology
  • Rural life

Media

  • Podcasts
  • Video

Weather

  • Kaitaia
  • Whāngarei
  • Dargaville
  • Auckland
  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Hamilton
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Tokoroa
  • Te Kuiti
  • Taumurunui
  • Taupō
  • Gisborne
  • New Plymouth
  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Dannevirke
  • Whanganui
  • Palmerston North
  • Levin
  • Paraparaumu
  • Masterton
  • Wellington
  • Motueka
  • Nelson
  • Blenheim
  • Westport
  • Reefton
  • Kaikōura
  • Greymouth
  • Hokitika
  • Christchurch
  • Ashburton
  • Timaru
  • Wānaka
  • Oamaru
  • Queenstown
  • Dunedin
  • Gore
  • Invercargill

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / The Country

DairyNZ leaders discuss sustainable farming

Otago Daily Times
10 Dec, 2018 04:00 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Lyndon Strang

Lyndon Strang

Agriculture, as a whole, needs to be brave.

That was the take-home message for North Otago dairy farmer Lyndon Strang after attending the annual DairyNZ Dairy Environment Leaders Forum in Wellington recently.

The three-day event was attended by nearly 100 dairy farming leaders who discussed sustainable farming and progressed goals for the future.

Mr Strang and his wife Jane milk 450 cows at Five Forks and run a self-contained operation, wintering all cows, rearing young stock and growing the majority of their supplements.

The couple aimed to run a business that provided good returns, had minimal impact on the environment, and was a place where people enjoyed working.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Mr Strang has held leadership roles in Federated Farmers and, earlier this year, received the rural lobby organisation's farming message award.

He was a driving force behind the North Otago Sustainable Land Management Group and particularly enjoyed working with and educating those outside agriculture on what was being done in the sector to reduce its environmental footprint.

The sector needed to "front-foot things'' rather than waiting to be told what to do when it came to issues like global warming and greenhouse gas emissions, he said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

When it came to water quality, it was about taking leadership and "not waiting to analyse everything''.

"If it looks wrong, [or] if it feels wrong, it is wrong. So change your habits,'' he said.

It was reassuring that experts speaking at the forum emphasised that none of the legislation wanted to "put farming under''. That was not the intent.

New Zealand needed a strong farming sector and economy but there were some environmental issues that needed addressed, Mr Strang said.

Discover more

M. bovis: Coming out the other side

04 Dec 10:00 PM

Four tips to achieve better soil

04 Dec 10:30 PM

Dairy farm 'grazing coach' keen to help others

04 Dec 08:00 PM

Southland's Aparima catchment improves

05 Dec 12:00 AM

The only way farmers would get their "social licence'' back was by teaming up with their urban counterparts and stakeholders and working together.

Things also needed to be looked at from the global customer's perspective and what they wanted around animal welfare, looking after people and the environment.

It also reinforced what was being done through catchment groups in Otago was "bang on''.

"Farmer-led and community-led catchment groups just getting on and doing things in Otago is the gold,'' he said.

Having a strong dairy industry was also crucial. To make good environmental social changes within farming, money was needed.

"If you're not in the black, you're not in the green,'' he said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Programme chairwoman Tracy Brown said the forum was geared at developing and empowering dairy farming leaders to shape a sustainable future for the sector and its communities.

In its sixth year in its current format, this year it hosted around 50 new dairy farmers, expanding the programme's dairy farmer base to 300 nationwide.

Keynote speaker was Dunedin businessman and technology entrepreneur Ian Taylor, who talked about how to inspire everyone to work together to get the best results for New Zealand.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from The Country

The Country

'We love you Jocko': Hundreds pay tribute to Stewart Island hunting accident victim

The Country

City to Farm - how leftovers are giving back to the land

The Country

The Country: Tasman farmer on flooding aftermath


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from The Country

'We love you Jocko': Hundreds pay tribute to Stewart Island hunting accident victim
The Country

'We love you Jocko': Hundreds pay tribute to Stewart Island hunting accident victim

Jock Davies was remembered for his infectious humour, caring nature and great strength.

14 Jul 04:21 AM
City to Farm - how leftovers are giving back to the land
The Country

City to Farm - how leftovers are giving back to the land

14 Jul 03:16 AM
The Country: Tasman farmer on flooding aftermath
The Country

The Country: Tasman farmer on flooding aftermath

14 Jul 02:16 AM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP