Thread: An open letter to Fish and Game

Originally Posted by nelpop

Fencing off all water ways isn't the whole answer. In some cases its no right. I enjoy fishing for trout and some of the fenced off streams are no longer fish-able as the blackberry and scrub has become so thick that you cant get to the water. The excessive use of nitrogen/urea is the problem.

Fencing off streams is important as it as it limits phosphorus run off and stops cows from crapping in the streams, reducing e coli levels.

In terms of the nitrogen, it's more a matter of it being applied at rates and times when the plant can uptake it.

The biggest issue is we face is dealing with the high level of nitrogen in cows urine (depending on the time of the year/feeding etc), this is deposited in a small area at a rate that is too high for the plant to uptake. There has been a lot of research go into this over the last 10 years.

Originally Posted by Rich007

Fencing off streams is important as it as it limits phosphorus run off and stops cows from crapping in the streams, reducing e coli levels.

In terms of the nitrogen, it's more a matter of it being applied at rates and times when the plant can uptake it.

The biggest issue is we face is dealing with the high level of nitrogen in cows urine (depending on the time of the year/feeding etc), this is deposited in a small area at a rate that is too high for the plant to uptake. There has been a lot of research go into this over the last 10 years.

So easily fixed it's silly. Don't over stock. Show me just ONE dairy farm that's not. Just ONE! Dairy is not sustainable farming, not they way it is done in NZ. Europe wouldn't allow the dairy farming practices we have here, why's that? Hell, even the yanks do it more sensibly.

As for fencing off waterways, I can show you a major hole in that theory on some properties... Fence to a low water mark, except the river spending six months above that in the paddocks. But but but it's fenced. YeahRight