Building connections for a better environment
Environmentalist and farmer aren’t words you might think always go together, but that’s how newly elected Southland Federated Farmers president Jason Herrick sees himself.
With his tenure as president just underway, Jason’s focus is on building local relationships with a range of agencies including Environment Southland and improving the public’s perception of farming.
“We’re only as good as the bottom five per cent in everybody’s eyes. That’s where a lot of the narrative has come from. If everyone thinks all farmers are the same as the bottom five per cent, then we’re all pretty bad.
The new consents have parameters that restrict irrigation before certain dates. Readings are taken and that monitoring determines the allocation of water for the year.
“For the first three years of our consent, we had 75 per cent of our water allocation every year. Then the following four years after that we’ve had 100 per cent of our water allocation because the aquifer has rebounded.
We’ve looked after it and it’s now artesian again.”
With the property being partly hill country, there are lots of waterways and most of these are fenced and strategically planted or the long grasses are left to help filter sediment and other contaminants before they reach the waterways. Jason’s familiar with what’s in his creeks.
He regularly gets out and does a bit of digging around in the creeks – especially when they dry up in summer.
“We do see a lot in the pools and culverts and they’re absolutely chocker. If there are any trout or eels stuck in there, I transport them back to the river.
“Ninety-five per cent of farmers are actually doing a really good job and are bigger environmentalists than what the environmentalists are. Without the environment what have we got?”
Jason and his wife Sandy have been in farming for the past 27 years both in Canterbury and in Southland.
But with four children who aren’t interested in taking over a family farm, they decided to change tack and for the last 10 years they’ve been managing Murray Creek Farm, a 415 hectare dairy farm in northern Southland.
Over that time, they have created improvements in water quality in Murray Creek, restored wetland areas, planted and fenced around 70 per cent of their waterways and formed a water users group to improve the North Range Aquifer.
“One of the biggest success stories on this place, in particular, is the water,” Jason says.
When they first moved to Murray Creek Farm, the North Range Aquifer was a diminishing aquifer, meaning the water evel was continuing to decrease because the water extraction exceeded the level of recharge in the aquifer for some years.
“We formed a water users group between the three properties that have water take consents on the aquifer. “We sat down and had discussions about water takes, what we could and couldn’t manage.
We re-did our consent applications and put it all together as a water users group.”
“We house freshwater Koura, eels, galaxiids. You name it, they’re here. It’s quite a healthy stream."
“You know your waterways are in pretty good health when you’ve got that sort of stuff.”
One of Jason’s other passion projects has been the restoration of a wetland area.
“There was a water hole in the middle of a 13 hectare paddock that would never dry up. It was just mud and because it was in the middle of the paddock, it was hard to fence off from the animals.
“Every time we went in there the whole herd was in it. It’s a natural behaviour for animals to gravitate to that stuff.
They love wallowing and they love playing in the mud. I ended up subdividing and changing quite a few things so I could fence it off.”
That area has now been planted and fenced, and Jason is now trying to source a special plant, a rush called Raupo, so he can re-introduce the Australasian Bittern (Matuku-hūrepo).
“It hasn’t been in northern Southland for 30-odd years,” Jason says.
“It’s a very elusive bird, it does not like to be seen. It needs rushes to hide in, and I’m sourcing the particular plant it likes now.
“When the wetland does fill up with water, it’s amazing. It’s got no connection to a waterway, but the groundwater fills it, and eels end up in there.”
While these projects have been labours of love for Jason, the negative perception of farming, combined with his own health and wellness challenges led to him seriously considering walking away from farming altogether.
“I’d had enough of the direction. It felt like farmers were being really targeted, for the last six years in particular. But it had started before that, previous governments had started the waves of regulation and control.
Finding a community and a positive mindset change through Weight Loss Coaching Works has been a major game changer for Jason.
“I’m listening to better content on how to block out that negative input and navigate difficult situations.
I’ve learned lots of new strategies like habit stacking and time blocking, and now I’m not so busy being busy anymore, I’m busy achieving what I set out to do on a daily basis.
“And having my health back again – that was huge for me.”
After several health scares between 2020 and 2023, Jason’s journey has now led him to training for half marathons.
“I firmly believe that physical health and mental health go hand in hand, and that has been the turnaround for me.”
And with the change in government, Jason sees a more positive direction for the farming community.
Jason’s hoping this means he can put more of his focus on local challenges rather than advocacy to central Government.
“My main goal for my three-year term for Federated Farmers is to get a better connection between farmers and authorities, that they can work better together.
“It’s so much easier working alongside somebody than being told what to do. We all need to be encouraging people along and empowering them to do the job.
“That’s where my focus is. To try and get people to come along for the ride."
