Research, not taxes, is the key
Farmers know that global warming is real; after all, they’re at the brunt of the climate change that greenhouse gas increases appear to be fomenting.
But in terms of the farm animal emissions component of the issue, our most pragmatic and effective response lies in accelerating research and fast adoption of best practice, not new taxes.
Thanks to $20 million of annual funding from Government and agriculture sector groups, Kiwi scientists are conducting world-leading research on how to cut methane and nitrous oxide emissions from farmed animals.
It’s been said that reducing these gases can buy us time to deal with the major global warming culprit, the carbon dioxide from transport, industry and power generation.
Earlier this month at a DairyNZ seminar, 120 farmers and rural professionals were told of successes to date.
Sheep variants with smaller rumens have been measured emitting up to 10 per cent less methane.
Feeding livestock on higher mixes of forage rape and fodder beet vs all grass diets can reduce their emissions by 20-30 per cent.
Even more promising are lab trials of methane inhibitors and vaccines (30 per cent or more cuts to burped methane), which will need another 5-7 years of stringent field trials, then testing to ensure no residue affects the meat and milk we consume.
Farmers will adopt proven practices and technologies.
Kiwi farmers are among the most efficient producers of dairy nutrition on the planet.
It has been calculated that if the milk produced in other parts of the world could be produced at the same carbon efficiency as NZ’s, it would be possible to produce 1.8 trillion litres of milk with a global carbon footprint less than that of the 800 billion litres produced today.
The Paris Agreement acknowledged feeding an expanding world population is also a priority.
Federated Farmers argues there is no point including NZ agriculture in the ETS, or clobbering them with extra taxes, when that will shift production to other less efficient farmers overseas. That will only increase global emissions. Greens leader James Shaw said we need to cut our national herds by 35 per cent. That’s a 13.4 per cent cut to our total export earnings.
Let’s keep focusing on production gains and accelerate the research on emission reductions. That’s what will make a real difference. - Andrew Hoggard, Federated Farmers climate change spokesman.