Dear All
I was also born in the country, though have long lived in the city, and I know
how emotionally and financially brutal drought is. But it is still worth
remembering that using national parks as fodder of last resort (i) removes or
reduces the incentives for precautionary farming — drought is normal in
Australia, and farming practices and farming finance needs to accommodate that
— and once this is done once, it will be almost impossible to resist the
demands to do it again when drought returns in other places, and (ii) it will
penalise those farmers who did reduce stocking rates as drought began to
threaten.
Kim
Kim Sterelny
Philosophy Program
RSSS, ANU
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On 16/05/2013, at 5:05 PM, Sonja Ross wrote:
Hi Jill,
No, I don't think those fires did get much notice down here. No mention is
made of that in the item we were responding to, but I think my question still
stands i.e. why is the life of a cow more important than that of a bird/ wild
animal/ possibly irreplaceable plant which may not have been tested for it's
drug properties which may save people's lives? I grew up on a farm so am
sympathetic to the problems, but at the same time I think we shouldn't always
be putting wild areas at the bottom of the caring basket.
Thanks for mentioning the fires. I hope a mutually satisfactory solution can
be worked out.
Sonja
On 16/05/2013, at 4:55 PM, Jill Dening wrote:
It seems that people are not aware of the devastating wildfires that ripped
through those Nth Qld properties a little while ago. Vast areas of grassland
were burnt. It was big news in Qld at the time, but perhaps didn't get an
airing further afield.
Jill
Jill Dening
Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia
26° 51' 41"S 152° 56' 00"E
On 16/05/2013 4:30 PM, storm wrote:
The cattle don't have to die of starvation. Good farmers work
proactively to move stock before the situation gets to that stage and
will shoot cattle before they suffer. It's part of the gamble that
is living off cattle and other livestock.
It's very disappointing to see the RSPCA quoted. They are out of line
supporting poor farming practice and promoting the suffering of birds
and other wildlife in the national parks.
storm
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