Good dairy farming practice also ensures that the milk is produced by healthy animals in a manner that is sustainable and responsible from the animal welfare, social, economic and environmental perspectives. The dairy farmers thought that Fonterra Cooperative Group, the world's largest dairy exporter, should move to a tiered payment system, which would pay more for pasture-based cows and should also include incentives for sustainable farming. Surely we need to start changing the way this country produces food for the world so we don't destroy our environment at the expense of the export dollar. Even the world's media has picked up on this with the Guardian reporting the bleak findings. Dairy doesn't fit well with any of those aspects. Intensive, housed dairy farming doesn't make economic sense in NZ, farmers say. Our cows can access pasture year-round following their natural inclinations to be outside. The income from dairy farming is now a major part of the New Zealand economy, becoming an NZ$13.4 billion industry by 2017. Some beautiful landscapes rich in dry land plants and animals, like Mackenzie Country and Canterbury plains, are unsuitable for dairy conversion and require large scale irrigation. An award-winning dairy farm couple has described walking through "ghost town" dairy farms in the Netherlands, where cows never go outside, and told Parliament's primary production committee that New Zealand needs to promote the benefits and efficiency of pasture-based farming, rather than move to a more European, intensive model. Habitat protection is critically important to the achievement of Fish & Game’s statutory duty. 1010, Auckland, NZ, 0800 843 627 A 2006 study found Canterbury had the world's highest incidence of Crohn's disease. In the Summer of 2012, Compassion in World Farming’s investigation team went undercover in over 50 farms in Germany, Denmark and Spain to highlight the welfare problems faced by Europe’s cows. Intensive dairy farming is tarnishing NZ's clean, green image. I know change is hard but intensive dairying is a sunset industry for many reasons - it's not a health food, it requires an extensive amount of water and fertiliser, the effect on our waterways is detrimental and there are uncomfortable animal rights issues. According to Environment Aotearoa, the latest report from the government shows our clean, green, fresh water identity is eroding quickly. Dairy farmers have made significant progress on their commitment to farming within environmental limits. Our fantastic farming community need better recommendations from outside the industry that relies so heavily on the status quo, with minor tweaks. Intensive pig farming, also known as pig factory farming is a subset of pig farming and of Industrial animal agriculture, all of which are types of animal husbandry, in which livestock domestic pigs are raised up to slaughter weight. OPINION: As the Government looks at new fresh water rules New Zealand has to discuss the elephant in the room; the industry that we are best known for - the dairy industry. Level 3, Suite 306 Article - BusinessDesk Intensive, housed dairy farming doesn't make economic sense in NZ, farmers say. I understand that dairy is interwoven with our cultural identity, and our economy relies heavily on the income it provides. Photo: Supplied via NZ Herald ... "Canterbury seems to me a classic example where water didn't need to be treated but after a decade or more of intensive dairy farming, ... having this debate about water quality for two decades now and still our catchments and rivers are being degraded by intensive farming. 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