New Zealand is recognised as the world’s leading pastoral agricultural producer. Pasture-based exports account for almost half of our total exports and given the state of the rest of the world, we are quickly becoming globally recognised as gold standard food producers. Unfortunately, all that productivity puts us in the shit…. tonnes of it. It’s […]
Environment
Specialty grains and pulses trialed in Canterbury
By Annabel McAleer, Senior Communications Advisor, Our Land and Water (this article is from the National Science Challenges website). Buckwheat, soybeans and quinoa trials were undertaken in Canterbury last year, comprising three of the six ‘star’ specialty grains and pulses identified by Our Land and Water research as having high potential for New Zealand farmers. […]
Imagine if we could store ALL that water
The recent holiday deluge of rain in the south saw two very different reactions. There was despair from the holiday makers trying to take a break from the year we’d had, right through to joy and relief from the local farmers, who were even prepared to tolerate the disruption the flooding brought because of their […]
Putting the bite on five myths about meat
If one of your New Year resolutions was to do better for your health and the planet by eating less meat, thumbs up to you. Can’t fault the desire to be a more conscious consumer. But before you entirely swap out beef steaks and rack of lamb for eggplant and lentils, you might check out […]
Partnership the key to success for Canterbury sustainable irrigation award winners
Canterbury farming couple Ted and Sue Rollinson are the New Zealand region winners of the inaugural Zimmatic™ Sustainable Irrigation Awards. The Rollinsons own a 380-hectare dairy farm in mid-Canterbury. Sharemilkers Tom and Leanne Heneghan have been on farm for 11 years and milk 1,500 cows on the property. The awards aim to celebrate excellence in […]
Regenerative agriculture – why robust research is critical
The New Zealand Institute of Agricultural and Horticultural Science – concerned about the dearth of sound science underpinning the hype surrounding regenerative agriculture – has welcomed the Ministry for Primary Industries’ call for proposals for projects that will investigate regenerative farming practices. Funding for successful proposals has been made available through the Ministry’s Sustainable Food & Fibre Futures co-investment fund, which aims to […]
Winter grazing recommendations will work for environment, and farmers – Bernadette Hunt
Southland Federated Farmers Vice-President Bernadette Hunt is confident that recommended changes to proposed winter grazing rules put to the government this week will work for the environment as well as farmers. “We believe freshwater outcomes will be improved by the recommendations [the Southland Advisory Group] have made because they are very outcome-focused and backed by […]
Dairy earns close to one in four of our total export dollars
The dairy sector will be feeling encouraged by today’s GDP results that emphasise New Zealand’s economic rebound amid Covid-19. The dairy sector is playing a key role in a stable economy, contributing nearly one in every four dollars earned from total goods exports and services in the year to September 2020. Recent Sense Partners analysis, […]
Smartening up our act on environmental data
By Chris Allen, Federated Farmers environment spokesperson OPINION: Have we got the smart environmental data we need to inform smart environmental investments? The short answer is no. Federated Farmers has this week published analysis of the Government’s Our Freshwater 2020 (FW2020) report jointly published by the Ministry for the Environment and Statistics New Zealand. It’s […]
Planting trees is only a carbon band-aid
By Mike Cranstone, President Whanganui Federated Farmers OPINION: With the frantic pace that this Government wants to transition our country to a Zero Carbon economy, should we step back a moment and make sure that the principles and science are robust? There has been significant research into understanding the role of different greenhouse gases in climate […]