HWEN response on pig farming welcomed
Diane Bishop
The proposal by the Government to exclude pig farming from agricultural emissions pricing is pragmatic and sensible, according to NZPork.
As part of its response to the He Waka Eke Noa Primary Sector Climate Action Partnership proposal on the pricing of agricultural emissions, the Government has opted not to price pig farming emissions from 2025.
NZ Pork chief executive Brent Kleiss said the pork industry has been advocating on this issue for some time so was pleased with the ‘‘pragmatic and sensible’’ decision by the Government.
‘‘The Government has acknowledged that there would be too much uncertainty about the price pig farmers would face and there are limited emissions reduction practices for some pig farming systems.
‘‘Adapting a system designed for the dairy, sheep and beef sectors to be fit-for-purpose for pig farming would also have been complex,’’ Kleiss said.
Greenhouse gas emissions from pig farming account for just 0.2 per cent of agricultural emissions in New Zealand every year, he said.
Emissions from pig farming differ significantly to emissions from pastoral farming because pigs were monogastric so they naturally produced much lower methane emissions than ruminant animals.
‘‘Our sector’s emissions are primarily driven by the methods used to store and treat effluent onfarm. For this reason, the volume and type of emissions can vary greatly between farms of a similar size.’’
Many farmers, where feasible, had already adopted emissions reducing technologies and practices, including significantly reducing methane emissions by covering effluent ponds, Kleiss said.
‘‘Ongoing improvements in production efficiencies continue to reduce our environmental impact over time.’’
NZPork remained focused on its goal of achieving carbon neutrality for commercial pig farms by 2050 and supporting long-term emissions reductions across the pork supply chain.
‘‘Our climate change strategy is focused on being able to measure our current emissions, identify and provide support for emissions reductions, support our farmers to use carbon credits to offset residual emissions and respond to the impacts of climate change.
‘‘We want to develop a sound understanding of emission sources and sequestration opportunities on-farm and across the wider pork supply chain.’’
NZPork will also be working with farmers to support their understanding and benchmark emissions sources on their own farms.
‘‘We will be helping farmers develop and implement individual emissions reductions plans and explore and encourage the uptake of mitigation practices onfarm.’’
NZPork has commissioned a pork carbon footprint assessment to quantify emissions across the pork supply chain.