After yet more driving through winding roads, we visited a dairy and a forestry operation. The first stop was the dairy, owned and operated by Grant Wills and Karen Preston. The dairy consist of 635 cows, most of which are of the Kiwi breed. The rest of the herd is Jersey and Fresian, a cross of these two breeds leads to the Kiwi. These cattle are considerably different from the cattle in the United States. They are smaller, produce less milk, and have to hike across several kilometers each day to be milked! The parlor is outdoors with nothing but a roof on it. One thing that we found cool was how they cleaned the pen; around it was five 55 gallon drums that were elevated and filled with water until they would tip over spilling the water which would rinse the concrete. The pasture which is made up of 235ha which converts to about 580ac, is intensely managed. The manure produced from the parlor and herd homes is spread over the grass to replace the nutrients lost; with the addition of some commercial fertilizers. The pasture is separated into several parcels to increase the production. The creeks running through the property along with steep hillsides are fenced off so the cattle cannot access them. This is done to reduce erosion and create a buffer strip so that runoff doesn't enter the stream as quickly. He also was in the process of adding more trees to the riparian area in order to reduce erosion and add integrity to the stream bank. Grant also provides a critical link between producers and consumers. He does this by encouraging Fonterra, a major milk supplier which he sells his milk to, to reach out to consumers through programs that stress the nutritious benefits of milk in your daily diet. They provide milk to school children as well as low income families several times a week to lessen the divide between urban areas and agricultural regions.
Our next stop for the day was the Ministry for Primary Industries to learn about New Zealand's Forestry Industry. Upon arrival we were enthusiastically greeted by the one dog welcoming party and the staff. Here we listened to a presentation about the forestry industry in New Zealand. The forestry industry is the third largest industry in the country, and is expected to grow considerably in the future. There are only four species of trees grown for the production of lumber. The main commercial species is a non-native breed of pine. One of the questions that was asked was about improvements that will need to be made to the industry in order for it to evolve to a 12 billion dollar industry instead of simply modifying to a 6 billion dollar industry. Our host recommended that the wood industry needed to develop more wood products, especially for construction. He anticipated that these products would be well received, especially in Asian and Indian markets, both wood deficient regions. The trees used for commercial production have been improved over several decades through the use of selective breeding. Now there has been an interest in genetically modifying them to make the trees Roundup resistant so that they can control the volunteer trees in the plantation. The test plot that was grown was destroyed by an anti-GMO activist group. After the presentation we had the privilege of exploring a test plot of Redwoods that was planted over 100 years ago. These trees were very impressive, absolutely massive! Dana and Cody even went for a light jog in the woods through the fresh air.
Dana Gadeken
Colton Grimmius
No comments:
Post a Comment