Good Milk: Rainforest-Free Dairy Farming in NZ

How can we improve NZ dairy farming by removing palm-kernel from our food supply?

A growing number of NZ farmers are now feeding their cows palm kernel oil from tropical rainforests as cheap food. NZ imports a quarter of the world's palm kernel extract. This trend only started a few years ago. It's threatening tropical rainforests (and the indigenous people and species like orang utans who rely on them), the quality of NZ's milk, our international reputation in valuable export markets, our biosecurity and the future of our dairy industry. 

There's an ongoing palm-oil discussion forum on Intersect, but this issue is so important that I decided to start a separate thread that focuses just on dairy farming, because:

  • The palm oil/kernel issue is gaining more publicity globally all the time. This issue is just going to keep getting bigger.
  • It would be easy for NZ farmers to stop using palm kernel, at very little cost. There are much better alternatives (including other food supplements grown in NZ - or just grass).

Here are a few resources to start with:

Palm kernel use is linked to rainforest destruction
Feeding cows palm kernel is changing the milk we drink and Us
  • A study led by Dr Jocelyne Benatar at the Cardiovascular Research Unit of Auckland City Hospital found that..."what we're feeding our cows wends its way through the food chain to us"..."New Zealanders' intake of trans fats is now predominantly from dairy sources (60-75 per cent), whereas in most Western countries the trans fats ingested come from processed foods (about 85 per cent). This introduction of palm kernel into the milk supply is connected to the increase in trans fats we eat.
  • An AgResearch report last year found that a Fungi that produces deadly toxins that could pass into the human food chain through cow's milk were found in imported palm kernel animal feed in NZ.
It's threatening biosecurity & ecosystems farming relies on
  • This article suggests that palm kernel bugs have also been entering NZ.
It's attracting international attention in valuable export markets:
  • Here's an article on Tree-Hugger.
  • If you see anything else being reported internationally, add it to this forum.
Other resources
Last year NZ consumers put pressure on Cadbury NZ to remove palm oil from their chocolate. Cadbury NZ heard our concerns and demonstrated their good leadership by removing all palm oil from their products (although it may now be creeping back in the milk they use!). They went a step further and made their dairy milk chocolate Fair Trade. Other manufacturers like Nestle and Unilever have also responded quickly to public concerns.

Hopefully Fonterra can show some responsible business leadership too. The ongoing value of NZ Dairy Farming actually depends on it.

Finally, here are some words from Fonterra's website that I added to the discussion last year: "It all starts with green grass, clean water and healthy cows. We're dedicated to looking after the environment so the things we enjoy today are preserved for the generations of tomorrow."  - Let's make this good story true.

Please add any more content related to this topic to this thread.

Tags: Palm Kernel, Palm oil, farming

Views: 242

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Chelsea Matilda Robinson on October 7, 2010 at 14:12
Love the conclusion :) great links! another set of wonderful words from you, nicko x
Permalink Reply by Richard on October 13, 2010 at 10:28
Nobody does the art of Greenwash like Fonterrable. Shows what happens when a cooperative of farmers is led by the horns down the corporate path.

Not only is there the Palm Kernal issue. There is also the failing Clean Streams Accord and the use of lignite coal to power their Edendale processing plant.

In other words Fonterrable farmers waste vast amounts of nutrients by allowing those nutrients to pollute waterways, when they could capture that nutrient to grow either supplementary feed crops, which would negate the need for palm kernal or grow biofuel crops to power their production plants.

Natural systems based farming processes that close cycles are all that is need......unfortunately Fonterrable and Brand NZ relies on the colour of its grass for its green image.

Best thing for the consumer to do is buy certified organic milk or better still start a local milk co-op, buy direct from the farmer and through the weight of your collective $$ try and influence their production methods.

Cheers
Richard
Permalink Reply by Christopher Winn on October 19, 2010 at 17:39
Does anyone know the benefits of organic milk vs regular NZ milk? I've seen people scoff at organic milk, I think because NZ milk is already seen as being clean and green, sourced from free ranging cattle in NZ. Is there any incentive for NZ farmers to reforest part of their property? I guess NZ itself was a land of giant rainforests and tussock plains before maori burnoffs, the timber industry and farming cleared the landscape.
Permalink Reply by Elinor Chisholm on January 20, 2011 at 5:43
hey christopher, just noticed a new EU study reckons organic is healthier... not sure if free-range or not is factored in: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2011/01/eu-organic-milk.php?campaig...
Permalink Reply by Nigel Taptiklis on October 20, 2010 at 10:36
Great overview Nick, I would also add that PKE imports undermine NZ's arable sector, which is where supplementary feed usually comes from. By importing PKE dairy farmers that do so are supporting deforestation (plus associated biodiversity loss and climate change), increasing their contribution to climate change through transporting feed that could be sourced locally, and also undermining the economic viability of their local support industries.

However, given that our industrial style dairying is fundamentally unsustainable - in that it is highly negatively geared financially (e.g. Crafar farms), is polluting our rivers and lakes and draining wetlands, predominantly profit focused - at the expense of animal welfare, land and water, broader NZ environmental values (e.g. recreational) and other NZ industries such as tourism; I am boycotting them anyway and encouraging others to do so - PKE or not.

There are alternatives (e.g. http://www.biofarm.com/, www.goodfarmstories.org.nz), and if the market shifts, fonterra will shift.

Keep up the pressure!
Permalink Reply by Nick Potter on November 6, 2010 at 8:39
Fonterra has written an "open letter to all NZ'ers" saying that "We take great pride in being a pasture-based dairy producer and see this as a lasting advantage in our markets, in line with our vision of being a natural source of dairy nutrition."

I'm curious if Fonterra could be legally challenged for continuously presenting this image to consumers that milk from NZ cows just comes from what the cows eat from the farm. Rainforest-sourced palm kernels do not come from pasture. Also, cows eating bits of palm trees doesn't sound like "natural" cow behaviour to me.
Permalink Reply by James Hague on January 18, 2011 at 17:06

Hi All,

 I'm new to this forum, but wanted to add that there is a move by many farmers to produce more off their own farms and use NZ sourced feeds such as wheat and barley etc and use less PKE.

I will shortly be running some nutrition workshops to increase dairy farmers nutritional skills, help them get more off their own farms (sustainably) and know what to supplement with. If you know any dairy farmers please pass on the link www.daisys.co.nz 

 

Permalink Reply by Nick Potter on December 5, 2011 at 14:43

Linking palm kernel use to climate change...

A new report released today indicates that Fonterra’s continued use of palm kernel expeller (PKE) as a supplementary feed on dairy farms could have produced up to 8.9 million tonnes of carbon emissions. That’s the equivalent to 12 per cent of New Zealand’s entire annual greenhouse gas emissions.


Greenpeace reports that:

The huge carbon footprint of palm kernel is due to the well-documented destruction of both rainforests and carbon rich peatlands in Indonesia and Malaysia by the palm industry. As it expands to meet the growing global demand for PKE, along with its co-products crude palm oil, and palm kernel oil more and more forest and pealand is cleared and converted to palm plantation. These forests and peatlands are vital for storing greenhouse gases which when released help drive climate change. Indeed, tropical forest destruction is responsible for around a fifth of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

Permalink Reply by Nathan Hills on December 12, 2011 at 15:31

I think this information does not always get to the general farming population. I just put the greenpeace video on my facebook.

My father is a dairy farmer and owns a large farm in the South island. He used to use palm kernal as a supplimentary feed. In the last year his farm adviser advised him to use an alternative feed (maise from the neighbours farm - GEE you cant get any closer!). I think her advice was based more on the perception of the product than the actual long term environmental damage it causes. Farm advisers play a very important role in advising best practice and i feel pressure should be put on farm advisers. It cuts straight to an indivdual rather than the machine of farming fonterra. An indivdual can feel pressure and slightly vulnerable if professional advice they give is controversal. Feeding livestock imported palm kernal is controversal!

I encourage other people to add Nicks page or the green peace video link to their facebook sites.

Nice work Nick

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