Landcorp under fire for Intensive Winter Grazing
Date: 25th September, 2020
For immediate release
Geoff Reid
Several groups are calling on Landcorp/Pāmu to end their Intensive Winter Grazing (IWG) practices across the country, after new footage invited increased criticism.
Graphic footage of the farms was broadcast on Newshub and TVNZ yesterday evening. The footage of Pāmu farms showed vast areas of bare mud, dead animals in mud and waterways full of mud.
In contrast to traditional grazing, Intensive Winter Grazing restricts animals to small patches of land for long periods, which quickly turn into mud. This practice causes freshwater pollution, animal suffering and soil degradation.
A petition has been launched to encourage the Pāmu Chair Warren Parker and the Pāmu board to publicly commit to ending the practise of IWG.
Pāmu, a government company owned by all New Zealanders, farms nearly 700,000 animals across the country.
“The board has a duty of care to the environment and to the welfare of Pāmu animals. IWG is not able to be practiced throughout typical weather events except by breaching animal welfare and environmental standards and requirements,” said advocate Angus Robson.
The issue of animal welfare has also been raised, with additional footage of IWG showing cows giving birth in the mud. Federated Farmers dairy chairman Wayne Langford agreed cows should not be left to calve in mud and said the conditions shown in the footage “just aren’t good enough”.
The footage features a number of dead calves and dead deer in the mud, SAFE says ‘there is a clear duty to move away from this to practises that are better for animals and less damaging to our vulnerable environment’
“Pāmu belongs to all of us, we are all stakeholders with a right to say what is done on our behalf.” says petition spokesperson Geoff Reid.
“They could very easily stop this practise and maintain profitability. Warren Parker and the Pāmu Board need to listen to the concerns of the people that own it and are unhappy about the harm being done on our behalf. This isn’t justifiable from an environmental or animal welfare stance.”
More information about the petition can be found here: https://community.greenpeace.org.nz/petitions/stop-intensive-winter-grazing-on-landcorp-pamu-farms/
ENDS
CONTACT: Geoff Reid, geoff.reid@live.com
or Angus Robson, M 021 963 109
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