HEALTHY FARMING, NOT MUD FARMING

We all want New Zealand farmers to be able to grow great food in ways that care for the land, water and our communities.

But right now, there are too many cows for the land to support. In some areas, cows are grazed intensively throughout winter, leading to overstocked paddocks churned to mud.

Mud filled paddocks are not only bad for cows and rivers, the soil becomes lifeless, depleted and vulnerable. It can no longer sustain life or stop pollution entering rivers and groundwater.

That damaged soil then can’t grow grass the next season, without more synthetic nitrogen fertiliser - a key polluter of rivers, the climate and our drinking water.

For healthy soil, healthy water and healthy communities, we need fewer cows, less synthetic nitrogen fertiliser and no more mud farming.

Add your name for a sustainable farming future that puts an end to intensive winter grazing.