Despite reports, comments and rhetoric on how farmers are destroying New Zealand's waterways, a step change has occurred within the primary sector and farmers who are responsible for 70 per cent of exports are putting their own earnings into sorting out the problems of the past for the benefit of all.
In March, New Zealand exported $1 billion more than it imported, largely due to agriculture. This surplus flows back into the country, making primary production one of the most powerful ways for New Zealanders to achieve higher per capita GDP. This means that understanding the level of environmental performance that can be expected of farmers without jeopardising output or driving farmers off the land is critical.
A balance between profit and environmental sustainability is being achieved. Many farmers have regularly audited environment plans on their farms; are excluding stock from waterways; have invested significantly in new irrigation precision technologies; are being regulated on water takes; are spending millions on irrigation pipe upgrades; and are sticking to nutrient allocation limits.
Irrigation can help achieve these fragile balances because environmental impacts can be managed as part of the scheme's design plan from the get-go. Large-scale, robustly developed and environmentally rigorous irrigation schemes can collect and distribute a small amount of New Zealand's abundant water resource with far-reaching benefits. Less than 2 per cent of water that lands in New Zealand is stored and New Zealand has twice as much of its water below ground (much of it accessible) and 100 times more above ground than the global average.
If this water is cleverly and sustainably stored and distributed during dry periods it could future-proof New Zealand's agricultural sector and thus its economy.
