HOPE

New Hope

My husband came home covered in fish fertiliser, grinning, and smelling like a fish monger. ‘Smell my fingers’ I asked him if doing this work made him feel good, just like when I do my small bits for the environment. He smiled ‘I guess it does make me feel good, and its fun! I get to experiment, play and feel good about it.’ The regenerative farming movement is bringing the joy back into farming, giving hope for the future.
Mental health amongst farmers is at a terrible place in NZ. I read an article recently that farmer confidence is down 33% even though prices remain stable. This has been put down to the governments efforts to combat climate change and water quality, specifically targeting the rural sector. I agree that every industry needs to change, I feel like farmers are being targeted with little understanding to what can be done to make the real difference. Instead of taxing and putting unrealistic and impractical laws in place, which lumps all farms to be the same, why not go to the root cause (pun!) of the problem. We cant band aid it anymore. We need to get to the cause. Agriculture can change. Carbon emissions from livestock for example. It has been proven (white oak pastures) that livestock managed appropriately can actually be a carbon SINK. By teaching, supporting and incentivising good grazing practises and soil health management we can solve these main issues along with giving confidence and better profits back to farmers. WIN WIN

SOURCE. https://www.whiteoakpastures.com/meet-us/environmental-sustainability