Many that encounter data that doesn’t sit with their strongly held views are quick to trot out the quip made famous by Mark Twain about ‘lies’ and ‘statistics’. It’s a good standby, as it circumvents the need to explain the disparity between their view and what the hard information is saying.
Recently United Future leader Peter Dunne ripped into the fertiliser industry, claiming self regulation and best practice was not working and proposed ‘tough limits on fertiliser use.’
What fired Peter up was a report that the Manawatu River was among the worst in the western world.
The fertiliser industry agrees with him that the river must be cleaned up, and a good start point would be the 100,000 cubic metres of treated waste discharged into the river daily. Urban discharge and farm run off are also contributors.
Where we diverge with Peter is the claim that fertiliser self regulation and best practice are ‘not working’.
Sorry Peter, but it is working, and the statistics prove it. Nutrient use has been in decline for four years, and while use in 2009 dropped like a stone in response to the world recession, there is a clear downward trend that started in 2004.
Already 38% of all nutrients applied are being managed by nutrient budgets and 5% through nutrient management plans - our target is 80% by 2013. Some 211,000 ha of farmland is under the control of nutrient management plans, some 12% of our 2016 target of 1.7m ha.
So let’s give some credit to farmers that are stepping up to the mark, and the fertiliser industry for taking responsibility for the products it sells.
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