I think everyone gets their back up a bit when they see or hear ill-informed and incorrect comments thrown around. This is why I am sick of hearing and seeing throw-away statements from people (who often should know better) about the supposed benefits to the globe of meat-free days, or a meat-free diet. This time, […]
Climate Change
Strict GM controls hamper adoption of clover break-through
by Simon Edwards New Zealand’s current regulations on genetically modified organisms are denying farmers another potential game-changer for reducing methane belched from our livestock. For more than 70 years, plant breeders using conventional breeding techniques have aspired – without success – to develop white clover that has good amounts of condensed tannins (CTs) in its […]
Industry has delivered HWEN, it’s now time for Minister O’Connor to deliver trade premiums
By Macaulay Jones, Federated Farmers Trade and Climate Change Senior Policy Advisor The primary sector has delivered its He Waka Eke Noa Emissions Pricing Recommendation report to Ministers, now it’s time for the Government and Minister O’Connor to deliver on their end of the bargain. In a 2020 public webinar hosted by The New Zealand […]
Better drought forecasting will help primary industry prepare earlier
NIWA and the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) are joining forces to develop a new drought forecasting tool. It will use innovative climate modelling and data-driven techniques to help farmers and growers better prepare for dry weather and drought. Each organisation has invested $100,000 in the project. The drought forecasting tool is part of the […]
Ag leaders warn Groundswell: Keep protesting and you’ll put us in the ETS
Veteran political journalist Richard Harman was at the release of the He Waka Eke Noa report this week. This is how he reported it on his Politik web page: He Waka Eke Noa, agriculture’s proposal to manage its own Greenhouse Gas Emissions, which was unveiled yesterday, is a political tangle. On one side, the Greens […]
Government backs Māori climate action
Media release – New Zealand Government $35.4m to help farmers, growers and whenua Māori owners reduce their agricultural emissions $30.5m to establish a platform for Māori Climate Action Farmers, growers and whenua Māori owners have been supported by the Government to ramp up their efforts to reduce agricultural emissions and the impacts of climate change […]
Feds: Proposed changes to exotic forest incentives fall short
Changes proposed in the MPI discussion paper ‘Managing Exotic Afforestation Incentives’ fall short of what’s required to restore a level playing field to land use policy settings, Federated Farmers says. In its submission to government, the Federation has said achieving that balance will require all eight of the recommendations set at the Federated Farmers National […]
Fonterra pursues seaweed solution to methane challenge
Fonterra is expanding on-farm trials of methane reducing Asparagopsis seaweed, as part of the co-operative’s commitment to helping solve the methane challenge. In partnership with Australian company Sea Forest, Fonterra is looking at the potential Asparagopsis seaweed has in reducing methane in a grass-fed farming system. Fonterra General Manager of Sustainability APAC Jack Holden says […]
Feds pleased to see emissions tech talk backed with investment
Federated Farmers is pleased the government has recognised solutions to agricultural emissions lie in new technologies and tools, and is stepping up investment on that front. “Nitrate and methane inhibitors, gene editing, animals bred for their lower methane ‘burping’ – they’re the kind of advances that will enable New Zealand’s farming sector to continue to […]
Overdue GE discussion offers GHG solution
As reports on efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions continue to be rolled out, it was the government’s reaction to another report – the Productivity Commission’s recommendations on genetic engineering – that caught Federated Farmers’ attention. “Farmers are intensely interested in further reducing their world-leading GHG emissions footprint per kilogram of food produced, but the […]