On Sunday. I joined hundreds of other New Zealanders and went out to visit a local farm. Federated Farmers organised a national day involving 22 farms with a wide variety of farming equipment on display and activities available. Many families took this opportunity to let their kids run freely, doing what kids naturally do when they are let loose in a rural environment.
What caught my eye however, was the Environment Bay of Plenty (EBOP) stand. Why did it feature a huge gorse bush in full flower? With improving lake water quality being one of the major environmental issues facing both local and regional councils, farmers are finding themselves increasingly under pressure to reduce their contribution to this problem.
One of the major issues facing farmers at this time is nutrient leaching out of the soil and into our lakes. Many farmers have been working hard at fencing off waterways, riparian plantings and close management of fertilizer usage however the prickly issue of mature gorse now looks like being an additional burden for farmers.
It has long been acknowledged that gorse does contribute to nitrogen leaching from farms and into our waterways. The size of this problem has not until recently been quantified. EBOP have just published a report outlining the size of the gorse problem, making some recommendations about what has to happen next.
They have concluded that gorse around lake Rotorua contributes an annual burden of at least 50 kg of nitogen per hectare and that there are nearly 900 hectares of gorse in the lake Rotorua catchment - so that's close to a whopping 45 tonnes of nitrogen into our lake, just from gorse! Recommended corrective measures include the removal of mature gorse and its replacement with low nitrate leaching planting such as pine forest.
I had a great time wandering over Neil Heather's farm and talking with the people I met there. I learned a great deal and want to thank Neil, who is the Federated Farmers BOP local representative, for the opportunity.
What caught my eye however, was the Environment Bay of Plenty (EBOP) stand. Why did it feature a huge gorse bush in full flower? With improving lake water quality being one of the major environmental issues facing both local and regional councils, farmers are finding themselves increasingly under pressure to reduce their contribution to this problem.
One of the major issues facing farmers at this time is nutrient leaching out of the soil and into our lakes. Many farmers have been working hard at fencing off waterways, riparian plantings and close management of fertilizer usage however the prickly issue of mature gorse now looks like being an additional burden for farmers.
It has long been acknowledged that gorse does contribute to nitrogen leaching from farms and into our waterways. The size of this problem has not until recently been quantified. EBOP have just published a report outlining the size of the gorse problem, making some recommendations about what has to happen next.
They have concluded that gorse around lake Rotorua contributes an annual burden of at least 50 kg of nitogen per hectare and that there are nearly 900 hectares of gorse in the lake Rotorua catchment - so that's close to a whopping 45 tonnes of nitrogen into our lake, just from gorse! Recommended corrective measures include the removal of mature gorse and its replacement with low nitrate leaching planting such as pine forest.
I had a great time wandering over Neil Heather's farm and talking with the people I met there. I learned a great deal and want to thank Neil, who is the Federated Farmers BOP local representative, for the opportunity.
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