Attacks on farms

Stuff reports:

Vandals have damaged machinery on at least three Canterbury dairy farms.

Dougal King said someone had drilled holes in 30 irrigator tyres at his Hororata farm, about 60 kilometres west of Christchurch, on Friday night.

“We went out on Saturday morning to move them and they wouldn’t move.”

It had put three of his six centre-pivot irrigators out of action until they could be repaired, he said. …

Derek Crombie, chief executive of the Central Plains Water irrigation scheme, said he knew of one other Hororata farm and a Leeston farm that had milk emptied out of their vats over the weekend.

“It’s pretty mindless vandalism, really.”

He said contractors would check Central Plains Water’s own infrastructure for damage after the weekend, but there was “nothing obvious”.

A police spokeswoman said there had been a report of a burglary at a farm on Harmans Rd, Leeston, on Friday night or Saturday morning.

“The complainants report that the offender has opened the external tap to a milk vat and allowed 50,000 litres of milk to drain out.”

Could this be an organised campaign? When politicians wrongfully blame poor water quality on farming and irrigation (the worst quality is in fact in urban areas), then you encourage anti-farmer sentiment that leads to this.