Strong uptake of good wintering practices
DairyNZ has seen a significant increase in the number of farmers improving their wintering practices, which results in a higher standard of animal care and environmental protection.
DairyNZ chair Jim van der Poel says, while the proposal has adopted many key recommendations from the He Waka Eke Noa Partnership, the Government has made significant changes that will be a focus for the sector during the six-week consultation.
He says DairyNZ strongly disagrees with some of the changes made to limit the recognition and reward farmers will get for their on-farm planting by removing classes of sequestration like shelterbelts, woodlots and scattered trees. He says the whole proposal by HWEN was finely balanced and the Government fiddling with a couple of things like the governance structure and the sequestration criteria could change that balance.
"So we just have to work through what that means and if we think they have got in wrong, go back to them and try get those things improved and changed," he told Dairy News.
Van der Poel says DairyNZ knows how important it is for NZ to move on climate change, but says they also know the importance of moving at a pace that doesn't leave our farmers, families and rural communities behind.
"Emissions pricing needs to be practical, pragmatic and fair for farmers, and there is still a lot that needs to be improved to make what the Government have announced workable.
"Remember that if farmers are asked to do something, they need to see the logic of what they have been asked to do and benefits of it. So we are trying to make sure that whatever is put in place is right and that farmers can say 'that makes sense' and will get on with it," he says.
Van der Poel says farmers want to be able to quantify the benefits of such regulations and points out that, while being said to be the most carbon efficient producer in the world will help sell our products, it is not the complete answer. He says we have to 'New Zealandise' our products so that consumers can take into account all the other positive elements of our production systems.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says the relationship between New Zealand and the US will remain strong and enduring irrespective of changing administrations.
More than 200 people turned out on Thursday, November 21 to see what progress has been made on one of NZ's biggest and most comprehensive agriculture research programmes on regenerative agriculture.
The a2 Milk Company (a2MC) says securing more China label registrations and developing its own nutritional manufacturing capability are high on its agenda.
Stellar speakers, top-notch trade sites, innovation, technology and connections are all on offer at the 2025 East Coast Farming Expo being once again hosted in Wairoa in February.
As a guest of the Italian Trade Association, Rural News Group Machinery Editor Mark Daniel took the opportunity to make an early November dash to Bologna to the 46th EIMA exhibition.
Livestock can be bred for lower methane emissions while also improving productivity at a rate greater than what the industry is currently achieving, research has shown.
OPINION: Fonterra may have sold its dairy farms in China but the appetite for collaboration with the country remains strong.
OPINION: The Listener's latest piece on winter grazing among Southland dairy farmers leaves much to be desired.