50 | nzdairy DAIRY PEOPLE » Merivale Farms Looking at perception vs the science Neville’s son Noel with wife Jo, baby Jack and son William. Neville and Beverley with son Thomas and his wife Monique, with daughter Bettina and son Carter. Rosa Watson For Taranaki dairy farmer Neville Ardern, perception plays a big part when it comes to sustainable practices. Neville and his wife Bev own Merivale Farms on the western slopes of Mt Taranaki at Te Kiri in partnership with their two sons and their wives, Thomas and Monique and Noel and Jo. The company is made up of three entities – Merivale Partnership, Ardern Family Farms Ltd and Tom Hargreaves Farms Ltd. All are 200 hectares effectively and adjoin each other. Thomas and Monique run the Ardern Family Farms property, while the Merivale property is run by Gavin and Julie Bullot. Tom Hargreaves Farms is run by two brothers, Aiden and Dion Beer, and Thomas also runs young stock as a runoff property on 40 hectares. They also have 47 hectares at Riverlea where they grow Maize and winter grazing crops, which goes back to the dairy platforms. Noel and Jo look after all the cropping, hay, silage, fertilizer and spraying, and Neville is in charge of the development work. Overall, there are 1600-odd cows across the properties. Dairy farming is a major contributor to the local economy, but Neville feels this could all be threatened by regulations imposed on farmers that make developing properties too hard. “The big issue we have is we are on what we would consider second-class land … which does require a lot of development work. “(New regulations) coming out of Wellington and being enforced by (local councils) are stopping this work from happening.” And they’re not alone, he says. Many farmers were holding back on development as a result of compliance and regulations. “It’s actually going to be serious if there’s not a change in policy going forward. He used the example of a neighbour on a 500-hectare dry stock block who was told by the Taranaki Regional Council he had to erect 256km of fencing to fence off 32 drains and creeks, which would leave him with 37% less grazing land. He wasn’t able to make the necessary developments on his property to make it profitable and ended up being planted in pine trees. “He could see no way out. I think his words were, he’s been regulated out of farming.” Neville says. “This is the tip of the iceberg.” There were regulations being introduced that he felt were “perceived” to be environmental. An example he uses is the introduction of skips on farms to phase out burning rubbish on-farm. He points out that sending a truck an hour to pick up their rubbish and take it to New Plymouth where it is then transported three hours away cannot be any more sustainable than burning the rubbish in a fire pit. “What have we actually done for the environment? “We (farmers) couldn’t be more sustainable, but we’re getting penalised heavily for what the cows do … but there’s no credit given on what the pasture (sequesters) and the riparian planting undertaken.” It was taking a toll on mental health, he said. “Farming’s tough enough without having people constantly at you.” And all this on top of rising wage bills, rising fuel costs, rising fertilizer costs and rising interest rates. “It’s really tough out there at the moment and it’s going to get a whole lot worse. “We (farmers) couldn’t be more sustainable, but we’re getting penalised heavily for what the cows do.” NEW PLYMOUTH 36 Eliot Street / 06 759 0105 ELTHAM 11 Stanners St / 06 764 8305 www.schurrireland.co.nz m ow rin y ur ea f t r E p e g o id l u u e. Schurr & Ireland are proud to support Neville & Beverley Ardern. Grant Worthington BHL Feeds are proud o support Merivale Farms with their feed & animal nutrition requirements. “I think our grandkids are going to pay the price for this. We need to have a hard look at ourselves.”
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