Aotearoa New Zealand – The Soil & Health Association of New Zealand welcomes the end of animal genetic engineering trials that have taken place at AgResearch’s Ruakura facility for more than two decades.
“These experiments caused immense animal suffering and should never have been allowed to happen,” said Charles Hyland, chair of Soil & Health.
The Association applauds GE Free NZ for exposing the scale of the harm. Their report, based on AgResearch’s own annual statements, documents spontaneous abortions, cancers, deformities and other adverse effects on cattle, sheep and goats.
“After 25 years and tens of thousands of dollars of public money, these experiments have delivered no benefits,” Hyland said. “We are deeply concerned they could resume if the proposed Gene Technology Bill is passed. Animals must not be subjected to such cruelty again.”
“New Zealanders – and our overseas markets – expect high animal welfare standards and food that is healthy, ethical and safe. The future lies in organic and sustainable food and farming.”
Charles Hyland, Chair, Soil & Health Association of New Zealand, 027 707 0747 Philippa Jamieson, Organic NZ editor, Soil & Health Association of New Zealand, 027 547 3929
TOP IMAGE: Genetically engineered cows at AgResearch’s Ruakura facility in 2011(Photo: Steffan Browning)
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Most of New Zealand’s pastoral hill country is badly infested with gorse. Brought by early settlers from the British Isles to make living fences for stock, in our climate it quickly spread everywhere. A small plant left alone can be a large bush in a year and a few of them can cover a paddock in five years.
It’s not a problem in a market garden or home garden or a cultivated field, where it is simply removed like any other weed. It is manageable in an orchard where the shading helps limit its growth. But in a field of grass it goes rampant.
In an area you are wanting to regenerate with native forest it is positively helpful, adding nitrogen to the soil, shelter and mulch for emerging seedlings, and eventually being shaded out by the growing trees. That’s what we are doing on the 80% of our land that is too steep to farm sustainably. But having given up production on 80%, we want to grow some food on the rest.
Experts differ on whether the seed lasts in the ground for 50 years or 200 but I do know that we won’t be rid of it in my lifetime or my children’s. And fire causes it to germinate vigorously.
I have been given lots of advice over the years on what to do about gorse, most of it totally useless. The only useful suggestion was “if you want to be organic, don’t buy land with gorse on it”. Which does rather call into question our goal of New Zealand being totally organic by 2020!
Some methods we have used include:
1. Chainsaw and fire
Chainsawing down old man gorse gives wonderful firewood and the rest can be stacked and burned – preferably when there is no seed on it. The stumps will regrow – but if you need firewood it is quite a good way to initially clear the land (and maybe follow up with Interceptor, a herbicide based on pine oil).
2. Big machinery
A digger or bulldozer costs, but can rip bushes out by the roots and pile them for burning. It leaves a bit of a moonscape but doesn’t leave roots to grow back so you only have to deal with seedlings.
3. Chemicals
We had tried every non-toxic chemical on stumps before we came to Pakaraka Farm – salt, diesel, caustic soda – nothing worked. And you don’t want them in your soil anyway.
Recently we have tried Interceptor – it’s restricted if your farm is certified organic but permission can be given – to spray on regrowing stumps. Saturate the green shoots when they are about 100–150 mm long and the shoots die. (It kills everything so be careful.) If you can remember to revisit the stumps at the right time, put another application on young shoots each time they reappear and after 3–4 applications the root gives up.
On new land with bad gorse I would recommend cut-and-burn if it is big, then spot-spray a commercial herbicide once on sprouting roots and seedlings to get a really good kill. We agonised over which chemical and opted for metsulphuron which isn’t on any of the lists of things to ban, and doesn’t have a withholding period, but of course still doesn’t comply with organic standards. We took the animals out for about three weeks. This will delay your certification process by a year but give you an easier starting point and you can try to control the seedlings that emerge with grubbing.
4. Animals and other living predators
Yes, goats will eat gorse – when they have eaten everything else in sight (especially all your young trees) and are half starved. Sheep will also nibble the shoots but don’t do much damage. I’ve seen quite effective gorse control on an organic farm in South Otago by electric fencing goats intensively when snow is on the ground. You have to be prepared to sacrifice about 10% of them, and not use does in kid. You will still get seedlings germinating.
There are various weevils, mites and other insects being tried by regional councils. They do weaken the gorse but don’t kill it, and sometimes they actually encourage seed spread.
5. Peasant technology – the grubber
Most of our gorse control has been done by old-fashioned hard work – grubbing. You need to get the thick part at the top of the root out, but the thin long tail won’t regrow. Keep an eye on your wwoofers, as chopping the plants off at ground level makes them twice as vigorous next year. If you do this every year without fail to all the seedlings you will make real progress. When the plants are small and the ground wet it is possible to pull them up by the whole root, which is immensely satisfying.
6. Advanced peasant technology – the Extractigator
Where this article has been heading is to introduce a new tool which makes grubbing much easier. It’s Canadian, made in strong steel and comes in two sizes which are identical except for the length of the handle, and therefore the weight you have to carry around. We have bought two so two people can work together, the stronger person taking the heavier one and tackling the larger bushes.
With the jaws, grasp the gorse stem just where it comes out of the ground. Then you lever against a plate on the ground and with luck the whole plant pops out. We find you need wet ground – no point in tackling it in a drought. (Other soils may be different.)
Provided the plant has a single stem that allows you to grip it before it branches, you can lever out quite large bushes. The jaws will grab a stem up to 50 mm through, though it isn’t guaranteed to come out without breaking. Sprawling bushes with several stems that run horizontally along the ground are much harder and you need to take a grubber with you and grub around them to get purchase with the jaws.
After a while you get the feel of whether it is going to pull or break. Give it time to let go. It takes a bit of practice and I still need more of that. But I think it is a worthwhile improvement on standard peasant technology.
It also works well to remove other weeds such as woolly nightshade, barberry, privet and broom.
Gorse (Ulex europaeus) is a perennial problem for pastoral farmers up and down the country. Photo: jopelka/iStock
As well as being a farmer, Jeanette Fitzsimons was the co-leader of the Green Party and patron of Soil & Health. Sadly, she passed away in March 2020.
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New Zealand doesn’t need a loosening of GE regulation to combat climate change, it needs significant investment in organic, regenerative agriculture, says the Soil & Health Association.
Parliament recently passed the Organic Products and Production Act, with cross-party support. This should be a springboard to revolutionise our farming and exports, but making it easier to release GMOs into the environment will jeopardise that.
“By being GE-free, we’re far from ‘missing out.’ Being GE-free gives us a point of difference in the world market,” says Jenny Lux, Chair of Soil & Health.
“We already have an advantage in being an island nation in the South Pacific, and need to be really careful about any uncontrolled releases of GMOs into the outdoors. Our products are attractive to overseas buyers because they’re seen as clean, safe, natural and uncontaminated. Once we release GMOs there’s no containing them. We need to continue to safeguard our environment and our brand.”
Obvious agricultural solutions to lower greenhouse gas emissions, such as reducing or eliminating synthetic nitrogen fertilisers, have not been implemented at scale. Now there’s a renewed focus on gene technologies, which are attractive to corporates and researchers because they can be patented and commercialised.
But GE has not yet lived up to the hope or the hype. The $25 million dollar New Zealand GE ryegrass trials have not yet yielded more dry matter than traditionally bred rye grasses. These would be grown in monocultures, or with only one or two other species, which is not good for long term soil health.
“It’s already been demonstrated that diverse, mixed species pastures reduce ruminant methane emissions, and are more resilient to climate extremes,” says Jenny Lux. “Organic regenerative farming methods are free for all farmers to adopt, and unsurprisingly, they’re not under any patents.”
Soil & Health urges all NZ political parties not to loosen regulations on GE in NZ, and instead to direct attention and funding towards expanding organic farming here. Organic regenerative farming sequesters more carbon in the soil, and uses fewer costly inputs, empowering farmers. “We need research centres dedicated to organic, regenerative agriculture and farmer extension programmes to build that knowledge in rural communities,” says Jenny Lux.
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The Soil & Health Association is joining other environmental groups calling for immediate action to tackle farming emissions.
Consultation on the government’s draft Emissions Reduction Plan closes today and environmental groups are united in calling for stronger action.
“It’s unacceptable that agriculture, our largest emitting sector, is the least developed and most poorly explained aspect of the Emissions Reduction Plan,” says Jenny Lux, organic farmer and deputy chair of the Soil & Health Association.
“Too much emphasis is put on finding new technologies. Let’s use the tools we already have. More can be done, and sooner, by supporting a faster transition to regenerative organic farming.
“The Emissions Reduction Plan needs to identify a pathway to transform agriculture, with clear direction and support for immediately available solutions like organics.
“Pricing farm emissions is the key government policy right now, and for this reason agriculture must enter the Emissions Trading Scheme from 2022.
“Limits on synthetic nitrogen and imported feed are also needed as signals that we need to change our farming systems.
“Ultimately the New Zealand Government must adopt a target for increasing regenerative organic production.
“Organics have global recognition as a low-emission and environmentally friendly farming system. International markets are moving quickly to increase organic production to reduce emissions and because global consumers are voting with their wallets.”
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The European Union’s highest court has rejected Bayer’s bid to overturn a European law which heavily restricted the use of bee-harming pesticides. In 2013 the European Union banned neonicotinoid, or ‘neonic’ use on bee-attractive crops. In 2018 the ban was extended to use on all outdoor crops, including annual arable crops, cereals and horticultural crops.
The General Court decision, released Thursday, is welcomed by the Soil & Health Association. This decision follows a prior bid by Bayer and Syngenta which had also failed to overturn the law.
The regulation relates to the ‘neonic’ insecticides clothianidin, thiamethoxam or imidacloprid; and applies to foliar sprays, soil treatments or seed treatments traditionally used in the growing period following winter.
Bayer’s appeal primarily argued that the European Union had not applied the precautionary principle properly and should have instead, engaged in a comprehensive risk assessment.
The precautionary principle is used when science has identified that an activity produces potentially dangerous effects, but where uncertainty remains about the extent of the risk.
The General Court of the European Union rejected Bayer’s argument, stating that an ‘exhaustive risk assessment cannot be required in a situation where the precautionary principle is applied, which equates to a situation in which there is scientific uncertainty’.
The Soil and Health spokesperson for pesticides, Jodie Bruning stated ‘This is an important finding. When we have technologies such as pesticides, interacting with environmental or human health, the decisions we take must very often be precautionary. Harm that results in death, or the dying out of a species often occurs as a result of multiple indirect effects. For honeybees, pesticides and environmental stressors interact. Over time this harm adds up to reduce resilience, causing honeybee deaths.
‘The precautionary principle is important, because there is very rarely a single ‘smoking gun’ which can be traced and then blamed, for bee die-offs or colony collapse. We know that these insecticides last a long time in soil and water. We know they harm baby bee development, and impair flight as well as navigation. We can see that neonics reduce the capacity for bees to protect themselves from pathogenic viruses and the varroa mite.’
‘Recent testing shows we have concerningly high levels of neonics in New Zealand soils. We don’t have scientists paid long-term to research the health effects of neonics, so we don’t have scientists who can inform policy. Our farmers are buying unlabelled seeds, even for flowering clover. Farmers and orchardists do not know that the treatments they use are banned for outdoor use in the European Union.’
‘Because our scientists lack a mandate to research both human and environmental health effects, and the New Zealand Environmental Protection Authority relies on industry data to make safety claims, we have no authoritative expertise here. We are completely out of touch with best European practice.’
‘While the precautionary principle is only weakly applied in New Zealand, yet it has become a very important tool used by the European Union to protect environmental and human health.’
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Concerns for the future of New Zealand’s domestic organic industry have dampened enthusiasm for the Organic Products Bill which returned from Select Committee with some significant and useful changes, says the Soil & Health Association.
“We represent the thousands of people buying, growing and selling organic products,” says Soil & Health’s general manager Pete Huggins.
“This bill will be a huge step forward for organics in New Zealand and it’s vital we get it right. Consumers, producers and retailers all want a robust system of organic verification that drives confidence and growth in organics.
“We don’t think the verification regime being imposed by MPI is the correct one. This was not the scheme we were consulted on and isn’t our preferred option. It poses risks around cost increases that the domestic industry will struggle to bear. We think MPI have misunderstood what is required here, and are failing to listen to feedback.
“We know the whole organic sector is committed to working with the government to make this Bill the best it can be. At the moment our main concern is to nurture and enhance the domestic industry under this new regime. It would be a tragedy if the incoming regulation hampered efforts to grow food more sustainably.
“Organics is booming internationally, and our export sector should thrive under this new system. But we need to see assurances that the domestic industry will be supported and not undermined through increased cost and bureaucracy.
“The Select Commitee has already improved the bill significantly and we look forward to engaging with the government further.”
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Today’s Climate Commission advice shows we need a transition from synthetic fertilisers and other harmful practices towards organic and regenerative agriculture, said Soil & Health Association spokesperson Jenny Lux today.
“Organic regenerative farming is a huge opportunity for New Zealand, both economically and environmentally. Early movers have shown that we can make that shift rapidly. With government help the transition to producing high quality, high value food within planetary limits is achievable for most NZ farms.
“We’d like to see funding and other support for farmers to start shifting to lower emissions agriculture now.
“The Climate Commission says we can tackle agricultural emissions with the technology we already have. This includes organic and regenerative practices like phasing out synthetic fertilisers, reducing tillage, and intensifying cover cropping to build soil health and promote biodiversity.
“Healthy agricultural soils sequester carbon. The government could drive this change with a policy to support farmers with technical knowledge and the costs of transition.
“Money in this year’s budget would be good.”
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“It’s encouraging to see the Green Party reinforce their commitment to organic agriculture from their position in government,” says Jenny Lux, spokesperson for the Soil & Health Association, New Zealand’s largest organic membership organisation.
“We’d like to see all political parties exploring the opportunities regenerative organic agriculture offers in terms of environmental protection, healthy food, and resilient communities.
“We think the Green Party’s policy of creating a New Zealand sustainable food certification could finally help us meet our ‘100% Pure’ aspiration as a nation.
“However, a national accreditation would only work if it was based on measuring outcomes and met the standards for regenerative organic agriculture already recognised worldwide
“We also welcome the policy of capital investment and other support for growers wanting to transition to regenerative organic. The setup costs are often a major barrier to changing farming systems.
“Organics already earns export dollars at the same time as contributing to our Zero Carbon Act goals. Providing government funding for the organic industry and boosting funding for organic research and development is key to the future of this booming sector.
“At a time when people – consumers and growers alike – are increasingly concerned about health and environmental protection, it makes sense to be investing this way.”
https://soilandhealth.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Jenny-Lux-2.jpg17642243editorhttps://soilandhealth.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Soil-and-Health-Association_logoFA-web2024.jpgeditor2020-09-18 10:02:162024-08-26 08:00:09Green Party organics policy adds vital ingredient to national debate on the environment
The Soil & Health Association is calling on the government to make good Jacinda Ardern’s statement to the United Nations that New Zealand is ‘determined to show that we can be the most sustainable food producers in the world’.
‘Tomorrow school children will lead the School Strike for Climate and we need to give them hope for their future’ said Marion Wood, Chair of Soil & Health. ‘Healthy, living soil is potentially the most important carbon sink our planet has. So we have to take action now to sequester the excess carbon from the air into soil and biomass. Organic and regenerative production methods, which maximise the build up of soil organic matter, are key to sequestering atmospheric carbon and keeping global warming within 1.5ºC.’
The Soil & Health Association points out that New Zealand has followed an intensive, industrial model of farming. This has resulted in a 16% increase in emissions between 1990 and 2015, largely due to an 88.5% increase in the national dairy herd and an approximately 500% increase in nitrogen-containing fertiliser.
As a result we are now reaching critical environmental limits, both in greenhouse gas emissions and biodiversity loss. Yet we have within our grasp a globally recognised system that can enable us to move towards carbon neutrality and provide resilience in the face of extreme weather conditions like drought – certified organic farming.
And all over the world consumers are demanding more evidence of ethical production and environmental effects of farming, so there is a ready market for certified organic produce that is genuinely 100% pure.
‘Let’s march tomorrow in support of our children’, says Marion Wood. ‘And then let’s take action to make Aotearoa the most sustainable organic regenerative farming system in the world. Let’s give our children hope’
Marion Wood National Council, Soil & Health Association 022 032 7122
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Soil & Health want Fonterra to collect all certified and in transition to organic Fonterra milk and to pay a premium for it, irrespective of locality.
“We want to see the Government better commit to organic dairy production and therefore more sustainable farming practices,” says Soil & Health National Council member and former Green Party MP, Steffan Browning.
“We consider that a shift towards organic farming practices is needed to protect and enhance our environment and our economy.”
The Ministry for Primary Industries is undertaking a comprehensive review of the Dairy Industry Restructuring Act which includes looking at incentives or disincentives for the dairy industry to transition to higher-value dairy production and processing that global consumers seek for a premium, and more sustainable environmental practices on and off-farm.
There is growing public concern about the environmental impacts from intensive dairy farming, especially in relation to water quality and human health. Certified organic dairy farming however prohibits the use of synthetic nitrogen fertilizer, has lower stock numbers, more biodiversity, higher animal health outcomes, grass-fed cows with no GE feed or palm kernel supplements, and is generally less intensive than conventional dairy farming.
Consumers worldwide are demanding safe, healthy and more environmentally friendly food, and are prepared to pay
for high quality, GE-free, organic dairy products. The 2018 OANZ Organic Market report found that the global organic dairy market is currently estimated to be worth about US$17b. By 2022 the sector is projected to be worth US$25b, the value of organic milk powder being an important contributor.
To meet the demand, Soil & Health says that government intervention is required to incentivize more organic dairy farming.
“Overall there has been limited encouragement for new organic transitions,” says Browning.
“To help farmers make the transition to organics, we would like to see the legislation require that Fonterra collect all certified organic and in transition to certified organic milk and pay a premium above the annual farm gate price for it, irrespective of location or availability of processing capacity.”
ENDS
Media contact
Steffan Browning
Soil & Health National Councillor
021804223
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