Headline: Schoolyard bullies: Farmer says tourists and visitors dont understand farming

In total 290 comments were made and 0 votes were cast. So what is the crowd saying?

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Comment	Total	Positive	Negative	Name
Read the article, this farmer is conscious of the issues and is doing what is appropriate, I also dislike some of the farming practice going on however this farmer is responsible so we need to cut him some slack, good on him for opening his gates to the public,its not easy to be exposed to public scrutiny.	101	107	6	BAC57
the stocking rates on highcountry properties is very low per ha. cant see the problem with this one . totally different to high intensity dairying. The generall public need to have more respect for the caretakers of these environments.	92	97	5	Powertool
Heres a thought. What stops wild animals (deer, goats etc... ) from peeing and pooing in the river... hmmm.	88	100	12	grumpyoldman69
Nice to read a balanced article giving the farmers perspective, and putting their case so well. We risk losing so much pushing unbridled tourism at the expense of sustainable farming. The scales are being tipped to the detriment of both and having informed debate about our options is important and timely	77	81	4	SteveC
The Aspinalls have a long history of excellence in farming. They are not dairy farmers. How they farm is little different from having wild animals in nature and the normal accees to waterways which those animals enjoy every day	69	75	6	MurrayB
I wonder how many people complaining about the farmer actually read the article..	65	69	4	Abbie Worthy
If the science proves the cattle are having next to no affect on the water quality then good . These are NOT DAIRY cattle!! Bloody big difference.	57	65	8	shuckah
Great article and I totally get what he is saying. People need to look at their own backyards before being critical of others.	52	58	6	Allan777
How many of these people taking photos and complaining are driving their vehicles up the valley, including through all the fords on the way? No contamination could ever come from their vehicle in a waterway could it? Im sure the 100,000 visitors every year have a significant impact on that environment.	51	53	2	David25006
all of this hate towards farmers is just fueled by the media and people have forgotten that without farming nz wouldnt be what it is today. I own a beef farm we dont intensively farm we have no irrigators and run at probably more that 1 acre per head of cattle. while Im against intensive dairy farming which is mostly run by big corporate farming cooperatives the average farmer in nz does not deserve the hate that is being shown towards us we are just kiwis trying to make a living like everyone else.	48	50	2	mechman
People on their high horse complain about anything. Let them look in there own back yard. Virtuous in their belief that there plastic is being recycled but actually being dumped in Indonesia.	48	53	5	Far north
The same people who moan about the cows being in the river probably stand there and pee in it as well. They probably dont have pristine back yards at home but expect a farmer with over 2300 hectares to have it perfect to visitors standards Time to limit access or charge a fee for crossing private land If people are stupid nad get stranded or run out of petrol let them call a tow truck or charge them tow truck fees. If Mr Aspinall damages his gear rescuing them I bet they dont offer to pay him for the damage	47	54	7	G H
Why would you have them on your property when all you get is grief.They need to deal with their own polluted back yards in suburbia. These people also belly ache when the price of food goes up yet they have absolutely no idea how its made. Milk comes from the fridge and meat comes from the freezer.	46	55	9	yobwoc
Charge all the visitors $100 to attend a Health and Safety briefing (with coffee and cake) before entering the first farm gate; and have the station bulls in the first paddock.	46	51	5	Kaimai1
The point the people critisizing the farmer in this article dont get is that a high country station is not paddocks. Cattle are not confined by fences they are confined by mountain ranges and changing, roaring, unpredictable rivers. On a high country station you could often walk for an entire day and not see a single head of stock.	45	47	2	Rhubarb-rhubarb
If NZ doesnt have any wild mammals in nature, why is DOC dropping 1080 all over the national parks?	44	54	10	AndyQ
Look at Christchurchs avon river, how much farmland does that flow through? next to none, how much city does it flow through? quite a lot. How much is it polluted by the time it does its short trip from origin to sea? immensely, how many cattle abuse it?, next to none. How many humans abuse it?, truckloads. When you can clean up your own urban act start on high country farmers!	43	50	7	goldwin
It would be interesting to know how many of the 100, 000 visitors get caught short and use the land or rivers as a toilet. Personally I would prefer the cattle poo over human poo any day.	43	44	1	CHT1
These people who complain. Probably use the bush as a toilet.	39	43	4	allgood
I am with the farmer too. A good informative read about farmers doing what New Zealand needs. But if some people want to stop farming entirely then nut farming would be an opportunity as there seems to be so many of them around lately. The hundred thousand tourists coming to see this farm would probably leave more effluent than the farm animals. Tourists leave their stuff around on the ground and its worse to stand in than the cow or sheep stuff.	38	42	4	Oldtimer77

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