Opinion
20 FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – January 11, 2021
The best and the worst of 2020 Alternative View
Alan Emerson
WE’LL all remember 2020. Lockdown in New Zealand wasn’t that bad and the community was great. As a country we played ball, which certainly paid off. But what impressed me most was the teamwork at the top. Politically the leadership was impressive and the bureaucracy excelled. I’ve found over the years that many top civil servants had their own agendas, which could be vastly different from their political leaders. Also patch protection was paramount. What I’ll remember from 2020 is that our top bureaucrats put personal agendas and patch protection aside for the common good. It was great to see. So, the Emmy Awards for 2020 goes to: The Contemptibles Those multinationals that paid little tax here and claimed the covid-19 wage subsidy. Companies included Coca Cola, McDonald’s, Mercedes Benz and Samsung. They effectively took NZ taxpayer dollars and sent their profits offshore. The Arrogant Those who claimed the subsidy and didn’t need it. Companies included Fletcher Building, Sky City and Harvey Norman. Supreme Idiocy The Auckland Business Chamber who back in July insisted our borders with Australia were opened. Chief executive Michael Barnett wrote an article supporting their position claiming
that “totally eliminating the contagion is unrealistic and simply not backed by science.” How he knew he didn’t say. Supreme Idiocy Runner-Up The then National leader Todd Muller who claimed in June that it was “untenable” for the nation to remain “locked up” for months awaiting a vaccine. The Circus Some of the early commentary on covid-19. We were told that the cause was the 5G network. Then it was suggested that older people in lockdown could lose their cognitive ability, meaning going nuts. I’m unaware of any who did. Another academic colossus suggested rural towns would be more prone to covid-19 because of their low socio-economic status, more elderly and less access to health services. Stay in the shallow end, matey, our health system in the Wairarapa is great and I’ve seen beggars in Auckland and Wellington but not here. With this comment you made me know one thing: you weren’t educated at Greymouth Tech or Lincoln University. We also had the ubiquitous Mike Hosking demanding a lockdown and when that happened, claimed it was an overreaction. With Non-covid Awards, there’s the Donald Duck for quacking me up The disciples of regenerative agriculture. Let’s get both science and financials in there rather than fads. Sideshow Award The National Party and it was continuous. Jamie-Lee Ross, Michelle Boag, Hamish Walker and Andrew Falloon, it kept coming. The leadership saga added to the sideshow. We had Simon Bridges doing what I thought was a good job in difficult circumstances, then Todd Muller taking National
into obscurity and now Judith Collins returning National to Muldoonism. The Manipulated Minister Award Then Minister of Police Stuart Nash, who blindly accepted all the police spin over gun law reform. The Act party will be forever grateful having picked up many votes from disaffected firearm owners. The Fish Need Bicycles Relevance Award SAFE and the Animal Law Association with their court case over farrowing crates. SAFE wants all animals out of farming, and what the endgame of Animal Law is, I have no idea. Sow crates are there to save piglets. Kill piglets and NZ pork becomes non-competitive so we import pork from, you guessed it, countries who use sow crates with less stringent animal welfare rules than we have. Poor pigs. Chicken Licken Award The horticultural industry for all its bleating about needing seasonal workers but when locals stepped up they seemed, well, disorganised and uninterested. The Whitewash Award The Royal Commission into the mosque shootings. Thankfully, we had a separate report from the Muslim community that spelled things out a little clearer. The Believers in Santa The Strong Wool Action Group for wanting money while providing no detailed budget. And on the positive side, we have the Conservation Award Only one serious contender, NZ farmers. Finally we’re seeing sense citation. Water storage is fashionable again. It’s also logical as without it we’re stuffed. Landcare Research produced some excellent work on mitigating climate change. Encouraging long-
SURF’S UP: Wairarapa farming leader George Moore showing you’re never too old to learn new tricks. term strategic adaptation, such as diversifying cultivars, shifting sowing dates and planting more shade and shelter. We can have a viable food production sector in a changing climate and that is good news, but we need water to do it. Good On Ya Mate Award Surfing for Farmers founder Stephen Thomson. What a great way to get farmers off the farm and, in many cases, getting right out of their comfort zone. Locally we had over 30 turning up, some travelling upwards of 80km.
Supreme Award Federated Farmers – again. They’ve represented rural interests amazingly well and positioned farming in the political arena superbly. It isn’t easy but they did it. In addition, the agricultural summit they organised was a superb event.
Your View Alan Emerson is a semi-retired Wairarapa farmer and businessman: dath.emerson@gmail.com
Ditch’s Diary: A terrible start to 2021 From the Ridge
Steve Wyn-Harris
I HAVEN’T put pen to paper for a year now, but you should remember me as the tiny pup the boss found in the watertable that had been dumped by some loser. Originally believed to be a Rottie, but a definite huntaway, although on the shaggy side. I’ve been around for a few years and am currently the only working dog on the farm so I’ve become his mainstay. Gin, who had been top dog for a long time, had a big operation a couple of years ago to remove some tumours and had been fully retired since but enjoying herself. Some more tumours came back
so before Christmas she went back to the vet and after a deep and difficult discussion the boss and vet decided another big operation on an old dog wasn’t fair, so she came home in a tasteful shroud and Steve buried her next to her parents. Interestingly, Kiwis recently overwhelmingly voted for a much less draconian version of euthanasia than they practice on us, but a measure designed to reduce suffering all the same. I was interested to hear him tell Jane that he placed a couple of dog biscuits in the grave as he always has in keeping with the traditions of the ancient Egyptians and many other cultures throughout history, to carry Gin into wherever it is we all might go next, if anywhere at all. So that just leaves Sue, Gin’s and my daughter from a moment of inattention by Jane and wild abandon by us. Sue is very sweet and more pet dog than sheep dog but good company for me.
Mind you, she’s had some recent use and been OK. I’ve had a terrible start to the year. The boss thought he’d reward me with the left-over ham bone from Christmas. It was delicious. But not a good idea. He has never seen so much material come out of any animal and from both ends, sometimes at the same time. A google showed that dogs should never ever be fed ham bones due to them being cooked and the preservatives. It can be fatal. He was surprised he had never known this and polled several other farmers with the majority knowing not to do it, while others were oblivious. I was lucky to survive. Just got over that and now I’ve had an operation on my foot as one of my toenails got infected, so I’m on furlough. Earlier last year I watched the old fella work his way through what was a nasty drought. He did okay given it was about his ninth, so he has flexible and conservative stock policies, but he felt sorry for
those dealing with it for the first time and the many who live in districts where they don’t usually have dry summers and are set up to capitalise on what is usually a good season for them. You wouldn’t know that last
The boss thought he’d reward me with the left-over ham bone from Christmas. It was delicious. But not a good idea. year was a dry one now. This place looks like a hay paddock full of thistles and the boss isn’t showing it off to anyone. He calls it “deferred grazing” but he’s not kidding anyone including himself. All the humans could talk about last year was some sort of parvovirus. One must wonder what all the important news and
happenings in the past that filled the media which immediately was replaced by the pandemic story and has since gone unnoticed. He has been talking about the goings on in a place called the United States, which he says is anything but united. He’s not surprised it has come to this as he says the guy who has been inciting the discontent is not well, but he is saddened for the country and the people in it. And he says if it can happen there, it could happen anywhere. He says these are interesting but uncertain times. I don’t bother about any of this. All I want is my foot to come right so I can get back to work, a good feed every night, clean water, a comfy kennel, and a pat most days.
Your View Steve Wyn-Harris is a Central Hawke’s Bay sheep and beef farmer. swyn@xtra.co.nz
