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We can do better on climate

Federated Farmers has a checkered past advocating for conservation. Granted, the farming community has the most to lose with encroaching climate change. However, short-term profit, increasing debt payments and other immediate concerns generally overtake long-term logic. NZ writer for the Guardian, Baz Macdonald states: “Yes, it’s true farmers are facing a lot of regulation, but only after decades of the agricultural sector fighting off incremental regulation. And now the resulting environmental bill has come due.” For years, Fed Farmers and similar lobbies have successfully stopped regulation in its tracks — from in 2003 when they stopped the so called “Fart Tax” (a small levy on Farmers for their greenhouse contribution) . . . to calling for “balance” in the climate change teaching material in 2020.

Mike Cranstone last week discussed the lower carbon footprint of NZ’s dairy industry that was, funnily enough, commissioned by NZ’s dairy industry. However, he neglects to add that this statistic is measured globally against developing nations that are presently doing many times worse, while those developed nations (that need to house livestock in the winter), are not far behind. Either way, this study does not detract from the fact NZ remains near the bottom of the OECD for greenhouse emissions, largely due to our agricultural sector. Solutions

exist, from encouraging regenerated farming, to phasing out synthetic nitrogen fertiliser, to stopping imported feed, like palm kernel. We

can do better. And given the gravity of our emergency, we need to soon. Brit Bunkley Whanganui