New Zealand's public 'Farming 101' is this Sunday

Bruce Wills is the President of Federated Farmers. A version of this was also published in the Sunday Star Times.

I'm going to start with a negative comment posted recently on the Waikato Times website; "leaving NZ farmers in charge of anything is a recipe for disaster. Just look at our rivers and ghastly standards of animal welfare". It's how some people view farmers despite us being ranked well within the top half of the 'most trusted occupations' list. I'd like to think the positive ranking is because most Kiwis generally see us as straight-up doers.

Unlike politicians, farmers prefer to show than to spin, which is why we're inviting you to come on-farm this Sunday, 18 March.

Federated Farmers Farm Day is our chance to show even those who don't think much of us what we do. The most common positive reaction I get from first time visitors to my farm is, "gosh, I didn't know you did that". There's a heap of good work being done and next Sunday is our chance to show it.

We've got open dairy farms at Karaka in South Auckland, another in Papamoa near Tauranga and a third in Opiki, southwest of Palmerston North. We also have three sheep and beef farms open. One is in Rotorua on the iconic Paradise Valley Road, Wellington's is at Battle Hill near Pauatahaui and Christchurch's Farm Day is being held at Landcorp's Eyrewell station, north of the city. Being a trip into the country, our website, www.farmday.org.nz, provides Google Maps and AA driving directions.


Farming is full of pleasant surprises and even more pleasant people, like Sue Brown, Federated Farmers Golden Bay Dairy chair. For establishing a farmer-led catchment project to improve water quality, Sue has just become a Landcare Ambassador for the NZ Landcare Trust. Water also links another Landcare ambassador, Andrew Hayes. Together with his wife Jenny, the Hayes invested substantial time and effort to improve peat lakes on their Waikato farm. This work also saw them win the Ministry for the Environment's 2007 Green Ribbon Award for Rural Sustainability.

Right now, the regional finals for the Ballance Farm Environment Awards, New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards and Young Farmers are all underway. Farmers rightly ask why such positive initiatives aren't being rewarded with greater media attention. Bad news sells but too much of the negative creates unhelpful stereotypes. It's time for balance.

Federated Farmers Farm Day is our direct appeal to you, the public, to see farming for yourselves.

We want to challenge stereotypes by giving you the chance to ask farmers how we manage nutrients and what we do with water. Ask whatever you like about animal welfare while seeing real farms in action. If you happen to be near Wellington, tap me on the shoulder at the Battle Hill Regional Park in Pauatahaui.

Sure we have some ratbags in our industry but it's my hope people will go away surprised by how 'green' most farmers genuinely are. Only last month, 550 people attended the inaugural Canterbury Dairy Effluent Expo in Christchurch. Getting 550 people to any event is big, but one specifically on dairy effluent management? At DairyLink events in the Manawatu, which Federated Farmers is part of, water quality scientist Shirley Hayward is helping farmers to boost productivity while reducing their environmental footprint. Farmers take this seriously.

While the Manawatu and other waterways have a way to go, Federated Farmers more than backs their clean up. Organisationally and individually, we're an active part of the solution so grab your gummies, go to www.farmday.org.nz and on Sunday, come and see what farming is really about.