New Zealand does make a lot of concessions for farmers - but not directly like other governments, most of which switched to dairy and wreaked havoc on our water

New Zealand does make a lot of concessions for farmers - but not directly like other governments, most of which switched to dairy and wreaked havoc on our water systems over the past 2 decades. Sustainable farming is now becoming more popular in NZ, but the damage has already been done. More than 95% of our waterways shouldn't be swam in[0], compared to 2 decades ago only 10-15% were considered polluted (namely those near major cities and industrial areas). The government has given no penalties to farmers polluting the environment over the last 20 years, every change in government there's a slow push to have some sort of payment for what's been done, but the it changes again and all progress evaporates. The farmers who originally wreaked havoc on the land are retired now. Putting penalties in place now would just be penalizing their kids, investors or those who joined the farming boom in this country from the 90s. New Zealand is also a massive hotspot for testing new technology in farms. Speak to any dairy farmer here, they'll likely have some sort of regular cadence with overseas companies (usually Israel or Canada) to discuss product changes, management or updates to software or reporting, etc. But nearly none of the technology innovation happen in the country itself - as soon as development shows promise, it's acquired or relocated somewhere else leaving. With the price of land in New Zealand reaching all time highs as New Zealand continues to make no progress in reducing the amount of investment in land - I think farming as a profession will continue to push towards intensification just as it has been over the last 20 years. Land is expensive, they need returns to justify the investment. Around, and around we go until the land is a toxic slurry. [0] https://theconversation.com/polluted-drained-and-drying-out-new-warnings-on-new-zealands-rivers-and-lakes-136486 https://theconversation.com/polluted-drained-and-drying-out-...