| 9 ARABLE » David & Justine Birkett Hurdles ahead on legislative horizon Hugh de Lacy Sustainability and minimum farm inputs are priorities for Justine and David Birkett on their 190 arable hectares in one of the most regulated zones in the country, in proximity to the severely polluted Lake Waihora (formerly Lake Ellesmere) in coastal Canterbury. The lake – no less than the nearby Lake Forsyth a little to the north – has been badly affected through decades of enrichment through run-off from the surrounding Canterbury farmland, and in the battle to bring sustainable life back to it the Birketts are in the front line. Efforts by Environment Canterbury to sweeten the soured waters have focussed on fencing off waterways and restricting nitrogen and carbon applications. “The regulations have mostly been achievable so far, but they’re time-consuming,” David says, adding that he sees bigger problems on the legislative horizon. “The Government’s Three Waters policy will end up costing farmers even more for water than currently,” he says, though he takes some comfort from the fact that ther initial mad rush to get them pushed through Parliament has been temporarily arrested in the face of widespread rejection by local authorities, especially the rural ones. No fewer than 67 district councils have given the Three Waters proposals an unequivocal thumbsdown, so the Labour Government has backed off and given itself time to take another look at them. However, “Farmers’ understanding of the current state of the Three Waters initiatives, such as those relating to nitrogen and carbon numbers, remain an issue,” David says. The soil types on the Birketts’ farm are mostly heavy, with some medium patches, and, being dead flat, it’s able to be fully irrigated with a combination of guns and a lateral, though because of the types of crops the Birketts grow it’s only 60-70% irrigated in any given year. The crops include wheat, white clover, ryegrass, peas, broad beans, radish, green beans and barley, along with pasture and lucerne, be they for processing or seed. “Our management philosophy is to understand and utilise all of the natural resources that are present on the farm,” David says. Apart from some drilling, and base fertiliser applications, all of the field operations are done with the farm’s own plant. While the diversified arable operations are the key to the farm’s viability, they are supplemented by revenues from livestock. “We trade lambs and ewes over autumn, winter and spring – about 900 of them during the winter just passed – but otherwise all stock have gone off the farm by summer,” David says. The Birkett family has been on the farm for 90 years, with David being the third generation to be running it. “We’re connected to the farm’s original settlers by marriage, so we know its history well,” he says. The upside of the Birketts’ farming in an environmentally sensitive zone is that at least product demand and returns are strong. “The outlook is good because food security is becoming one of the major concerns for many countries, but input costs and availability remain a worry,” David says. Outstanding success removing weeds, seeds such as dock, field madder, and fathen P SRS 03 302 8115 email: nzoffice@spsnz.co.nz Proud to be working with Birkett Farming Ltd SOUTH PACIFIC SEEDS (NZ) LTD Specialists in Hybrid Vegetable Seed Production • Concrete • Fertiliser Spreading - Farm Mapping - GPS Tracking - Variable Rate Spreading • Livestock Cartage • Grain Cartage • Shingle Supplies • Daily Freight Leeston: 03 3248 070 Dunsandel: 03 3254 039 reception@ellesmere.co.nz Wheat crop on David and Justine Birkett’s Canterbury farm; harvesting white clover (middle); hybrid radish. David Birkett (below) inspects a ryegrass crop; seedpea crop (at bottom).
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