Farmers take climate change lead
With nearly half of New Zealand’s greenhouse gases coming from agriculture, farming is under scrutiny and some farmers feel the country has turned its back on them, writes Rebecca Black.
Waikato dairy farmer Christopher Falconer is parked up on his farm looking out over the wetlands as he talks about mitigating the effects of climate change.
‘‘I don’t make climate change-based decisions for what we do on-farm. But, as it happens, there is a great deal of overlap between what is good for the climate and what is good for all sorts of other things.’’ Take riparian planting – the practice of growing plants alongside waterways. The goal is to mitigate nutrient loss and subsidence and stream bank erosion but it is also an effective carbon capture.
With nearly half of New Zealand’s greenhouse gases coming from agriculture, farming is under scrutiny and some farmers feel the country has turned its back on them. But by making climate change action part of their everyday work, three farmers says the rewards speak for themselves.
Falconer doesn’t do any cropping on his property, with the aim of building organic matter in the soil, which holds moisture in dry periods.
‘‘But, again, we tick the climate change box because we are removing carbon from the atmosphere, and it is permanently being stored in the soil.’’
Breeding cows that produce milk more efficiently is another tick. ‘‘That is great for your farm system but it is also great for climate change because it is fewer cows producing the same amount.’’
In the big story of agriculture and climate change, these are the types of smaller things that amount to good reading.
‘‘This is almost like collateral good that goes with so many of the things that are good with your farm,’’ Falconer says.
Planting and creating wetlands and habitats are aims on his property. ‘‘All of those things are carbon ticks, it is a virtuous circle.’’
Falconer farms 250 hectares in Waerenga, North Waikato.
His dairy platform amounts to 195ha and the balance is in native bush, wetlands and grazing. Now in his sixth season at the property, Falconer estimates he has planted more than 10,000 trees. He has also put in more than 30 kilometres of fencing to exclude stock from wet areas.
One of his first projects was building a $250,000 effluent system. ‘‘We are not in any situation that requires us to spread effluent at any point, that is a major,’’ he says.
As well as no cropping, he hasn’t had to use artificial fertilisers in more than a year.
He says it is making a major difference for the soil fauna, soil health and longevity of the pasture. He milks 420 cows, having reduced his herd from 500. The smaller herd means a smaller carbon footprint but no less productivity.
‘‘We are still producing the same amount of milk, so we have got more efficient.’’
Falconer’s farm, which has one other fulltime employee, milks once a day.
He doesn’t rear his own heifers, instead putting the herd to beef bulls, selling most of the calves and buying replacement stock when needed.
‘‘I view that as recycling as well,’’ Falconer says. ‘‘If you look at the carbon footprint of a cow, she is wasted if she doesn’t get in calf when she is a heifer.
‘‘There’s a lot of effort, time, money, energy, carbon going into getting that animal there.
‘‘And just to have her ... go away for burgers is actually quite wasteful.’’
He doesn’t speak for all farmers, he says, but as the spotlight falls on agriculture, it is important to be mature about the discussion. ‘‘You know, they are not actually personally attacking me, what they are trying to do is elevate an issue, and yes it is an issue.’’
For Becks Tosswill, improving the environment and mitigating the impacts of climate change are part of her family’s farm business plan.
She and husband Richard have been farming at Te Awaawa, near Masterton, for 10 years. Taking care of the land is a priority.
‘‘From the time that we arrived, it has been an important part of what we do,’’ she says.
The Tosswills’ property is 646ha of sheep and beef hill country. They have concentrated on finding the best use for each part of the farm. They have retired areas unsuited to stock and have planted more than 28,000 trees, working with the Greater Wellington Regional Council for their planning and planting.
Precision technology plays an important role. The Tosswills use GPS co-ordinates to pinpoint where they need fertiliser and other areas, like waterways, where they need to avoid using fertiliser. ‘‘We use technology day-to-day, to give us the best advice and help us make the best decisions, which ultimately have a positive impact on our environment and climate change,’’ Becks Tosswill says.
The Tosswills have retired two blocks of limestone spring wetland areas to the QEII National Trust, which places the areas under covenant to protect them even if the land is sold.
Excluding wetlands helps prevent sediment entering waterways and adds to biodiversity. ‘‘We love our stock, we look after them, and we don’t want them traipsing through those swamp areas getting stuck and it being awful for them,’’ Becks Tosswill says. ‘‘We are mindful of our stock, and our environment, and make decisions based on both those things.’’
The Tosswills, who have three young children, are working with an eye on the future. ‘‘We have got this land here that we are looking after and we go into it wanting it to be for the next generation of people to come through, whether it is our children or someone else.’’
She says they are constantly on the lookout for areas to improve – a paddock with a corner stock aren’t interested in might be a perfect place to plant trees, for example.
The Tosswills have a land environment plan that gives them a guideline and realistic and achievable goals. ‘‘And then we can just chip away at it on a daily basis,’’ Becks Tosswill says. ‘‘Ultimately, as farmers we do really care. We want exactly what everyone else wants.’’
In Southland, dairy farmer Mark Anderson has recently made changes and wishes he had started 15 years earlier.
It all comes down to soil health. Healthy soil is full of organic matter and nutrient dense. The healthier its profile, the more it is able to store carbon and nourish crops.
‘‘We are mainly focusing on the soil health to grow nutrientdense plants, and then not only to feed the soil, but feed our animals, and the people who consume our products.’’
Anderson has adopted a regenerative approach and has found the benefits to be wider reaching than he imagined.
One aim is to slow down the water cycle so the land filters more water. Doing so increases resilience in adverse wet climate conditions, while holding and cycling more nutrients and reducing the soil and nutrient losses off the land, he says. ‘‘It is going to clean up our rivers and it is a healthier way to farm.’’
At 580ha Westridge Farm, in Waiwera South, Anderson and five workers milk 750 cows.
They have moved to oncea-day milking to focus on mob grazing. Grazing management of the farm’s multi-species pastures enhances the soil and better enables carbon drawdown.
As his area was hit increasingly by periods of drought, Anderson began questioning the use of synthetic fertilisers and chemicals.
He started to rethink his own approach, seeking advice from agro-ecologists and regenerative farmers overseas.
‘‘One of the soil health principles is keeping the soil armour on the soil, and a living plant in the ground at all times,’’ Anderson says. ‘‘That is probably our biggest change – committing to no bare soil.’’
If soil is bare, carbon is lost along with nutrients.
The land becomes more prone to erosion and less able to hold moisture.
There is no silver bullet to tackle climate change, Anderson says, but soil health is crucial and holds huge promise in offsetting New Zealand’s emissions.