I wonder if the people at 155 The Terrace in Wellington ever read their local paper, which yesterday reported:
Dairy farmers in Northland are struggling to feed their cows as drought evaporates daily milk production in the region by nearly 30 per cent compared with last season – and their neighbours in Waikato can't help as they also head for a big daily production tumble through lack of rain.So rain is bloody good news.
Dairy processor Fonterra, which collects more than 90 per cent of the country's milk, said Northland production was down around 29 per cent daily, and Waikato herds were producing 6.5 per cent less milk a day.
Yes, why is it so hard for people to understand that our agricultural exports are in substantial part a consequence of living in what Sir Geoffrey Palmer once described as a pluvial country? The rain is a blessing, one of our great resources. We even export it as aluminium, via electricity.
ReplyDeleteSadly, as I recall, Geoffrey Palmer was also showing his lack of empathy and metrocentrism. He was asked to comment on disastrous floods which had drowned stock and destroyed rural roads. His response: "Well, New Zealand does have a pluvial abundance!"
ReplyDeleteMetrocentrism is such a good word.
ReplyDeleteDid you invent it?
(apologies for the anonymous post but I have to work with these people sometimes)
"Did you invent it?"
ReplyDeleteI believe so. At least, I have never heard it before. And I do think it is a useful concept. It's not just Wellington and Auckland, but - oh, OK, it is.