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Alison Dewes. Photo: RNZ / Alexa Cook
Alison Dewes Is a Veterinarian, agribusiness and ecology consultant.
She says there has been rapid growth in the past 15 years of intensive, industrial scale irrigation schemes resulting in peak cows, peak water, peak manure and peak water degradation biodiversity loss in vulnerable landscapes. But she says there are things farmers can do to mitigate the impact, including getting more milk from fewer cows.
"Agriculture is going through what I see as a paradigm shift... just like when we went from the horse to the car, it only took really a decade, our agriculture has some massive challenges ahead".