I took a closer look as the traffic crawled. This billboard kicked off environmental organisation Greenpeace’s campaign to ban synthetic nitrogen fertiliser with the hashtag #TooManyCows.
It follows a year of public attention on river water quality and pressure on farmers and the above-mentioned fertiliser companies to clean up their act.
But how many people driving past would know these names as fertiliser companies?
In Greenpeace’s press release, campaigner Gen Toop says “Ravensdown and Ballance are the river and climate polluters that many New Zealanders have never heard of. Our billboards are just the first step in making these dirty companies a household name.”
I wouldn’t expect many people to know about these two companies.
In our urban city backyard we use slow-release fertilisers and organic soil conditioners. The quality of our lawn has become something of an obsession for my husband, who once dug up a third of it to save one rectangle from the creeping kikuyu.
We know how to keep grass but one street along good friends of ours have tiger turf.
Let’s play a game. Imagine I’m driving past the billboard for the first time and have no idea what or who Ravensdown and Ballance are.
For all I know they could be towns in the South Island.
I later Google the names and my search is rewarded with a series of articles about fertilisers, spanning topics such as farmers’ reliance on fertiliser to the fact the Superannuation Fund is putting pressure on Ballance over using Western Sahara phosphate.
All right then, who owns these fertiliser companies?
Another search tells me the Ministry for Primary Industries has given more than $16m to fertiliser efficiency projects led by Ballance and Ravensdown – co-operatives that are owned by farmers.
So, not only are they owned by farmers but also backed by government.
Never mind the technical ins and outs of using fertiliser, we’re talking about perception. I might wonder if farmers have a vested interest in using these fertilisers. Then I take a look at the social media feeds of some rural publications.
NZ’s waterways need cleaning up, the rivers and the sea. If there’s an alternative product, service or method of going about life that can help with that then those changes should be made – this goes for cities too.
The world is reliant on fertiliser for food production, there’s no doubt about that.
But, as the western diet changes and we’re encouraged to eat less meat, it makes sense that farming practices be openly discussed.
I ignored #MAFSAU and had a look at what was trending for #TooManyCows and there was quite a bit of talk about regenerative agriculture as the way of the future.
