Jennifer Marohasy

a forum for the discussion of issues concerning the natural environment

Food & Farming

Australian Cattle Not Singled Out for Brutal Death

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I saw many buffalo, cattle and also deer, slaughtered in Indonesia during the 1970s. There was usually praying, the beast’s head was secured, and then a sharp knife used to saw through the neck. I write ‘saw’ because the neck is thick and as I watched it seemed to take time for the knife to get to the artery. Death as I watched always appeared slow and painful.

None of the incidences were as traumatic as the television footage on ABC TV Four Corners program on Monday night, but none of the animals I saw killed were stunned first.

I was exposed to these incidences because my father managed a cattle ranch and beasts were killed according to Halal custom for the many families who lived on the ranch. I also saw animals killed at local festivities, deer hunts and other events that typically involved the very public slaughter of a live animal.

The most bloody was probably a non-Moslem burial in animist Tana Toraja. I remember it as described at Wikipedia:

“Slaughtering tens of water buffalo and hundreds of pigs using a machete is the climax of the elaborate death feast, with dancing and music and young boys who catch spurting blood in long bamboo tubes.”

The way animals are killed in Indonesia has much to do with culture and tradition and it is not done in a way the RSPCA or most Australians would consider humane. Indeed it is brutal.

The reality is that despite protests from animal rights activists for many years, still only a tiny percentage of Indonesian abattoirs stun the beasts before killing them. And stunning is not going to happen at cultural festivals were witnessing live slaughter is a feature of the event.

In response to the Four Corners program the Australian government has suspended live export to Indonesia. In response, Sri Mukartini, the head of animal welfare at Indonesia’s agriculture ministry, has commented, “Animal welfare is a relatively new issue in Indonesia. We’re still developing regulations.”

The bottom line is that in Indonesia, Australian cattle aren’t singled out for a brutal death. Life and death is much more brutual for many people and many animals.

Banning live export will impact on our relationship with that country, deepening the cultural divide. And frozen meat from Australia is not going to replace live exports because meat is still sold warm in markets in Indonesia because not everyone has refrigeration.

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http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2011/05/31/australia’s-ban-cattle-exports-ri-‘political’.html

http://news.malaysia.msn.com/regional/article.aspx?cp-documentid=4889049

http://www.halalfoodguide.com.au/halal.asp

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toraja

http://www.livecorp.com.au/SingleArticle/11-05-30/Response_to_ABC_TV_s_4_Corners_Program.aspx

http://au.finance.yahoo.com/news/Australia-stop-policing-live-abc-2537633490.html?x=0

Rice Suits the Murray Darling Basin

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 MANY environmentalists don’t believe we should be growing rice in Australia.   I disagree.   Rice suits a land of drought or flooding rains.  Unlike almonds, grapes and other perennial crops, rice doesn’t need water every year.  It’s an annual crop that can be planted only when there is an excess of water.

I visited Wakool rice farmer John Lolicato today and he showed me his rice crop. 

John is a third generation rice grower in the Wakool District.  His grandfather began growing tomatoes, later they tried millet, tobacco and even cotton.  

The family has found that the climate and heavy clay soils suit rice.   

John didn’t grow rice during the recent drought because while he had a water licence, he didn’t have a water allocation.  

The extreme variability of rainfall at Wakool is managed by government issuing irrigation licenses which are subject to seasonal allocations.  When water is short, allocations are minimal or zero. 

While it is fashionable to claim there is “over-allocation” in the Murray Darling Basin the reality is that when water is scarce during drought, government limits the amount of water for agriculture.

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More photographs here of John and my good friend Catherine amongst the rice.

Floods Steal Precious Topsoil?

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According to journalist Peter Sheehan writing in today’s Sydney Morning Herald:

“The rivers have been running brown. A lot of the lifeblood of this country has been gushing away in liquid mountains we don’t even see.  A few sages warned that the worst thing that could happen to Australia after a decade of drought was sustained rain…

In the piece Mr Sheehan goes on to repeat many of the myths about Australian farming.  What he doesn’t mention is that farming practices have significantly improved over recent decades.  Indeed once upon a time sugarcane farmers in Queensland used to crop the hillsides and then burn the residue before harvest.  Now they only farm the flats and mulch as they harvest through a process known as ‘green cane trash blanketing’.  

And certainly the Fitzroy Catchment was not drought ravaged when the recent floods hit, which may explain why relative to past flood, Bill Burrows, in a recent post at this blog, described the current flood as relatively “clean”.

Read the piece by Peter Sheehan here:  
http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/floods-steal-precious-topsoil–and-future-goes-down-drain-20110109-19jrq.html

But then also go to the trouble of getting some perspective by reading someone who does know about farming and Australia’s top soil, I am referring to David F. Smith, former  Director-General of Agriculture for Victoria, and his article ‘Green Myths About Australian Farming’ first published at Quadrant Online here:

http://www.quadrant.org.au/magazine/issue/2009/4/green-myths-about-australian-farming

[Read more…] about Floods Steal Precious Topsoil?

Cows Greener than Soy?

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I am dismayed that so many people have been so easily fooled on the meat eating and climate change issue following the UN report.  The culprit is not meat eating but rather the excesses of corporate/industrial agriculture.  Read more here.

What will an ETS do for Australia’s Environment?

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blue gum plantation w_vic nov_06AN historic piece of legislation, The Carbon Pollution Reduction Bill, currently rests on the Senate table which, if passed, will have a huge impact on Australia’s economic and social future.  The legislation will next be considered on August 13th.   If passed what will this mean for the Australian environment?

It is generally agreed that the legislation is intended to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases including carbon dioxide and methane.  However, given the big global polluters including China have no intensions of signing up to such a scheme, it is also generally agreed that an Australian emissions trading scheme will have no significant impact on global emissions or global temperatures. 

But in terms of economics how big will the impact be and what will the flow on effect be in terms of Australian industries and as a consequence the Australian environment. [Read more…] about What will an ETS do for Australia’s Environment?