Tuesday, 10 December 2024 08:55

Dairy can afford methane tech - Dr Carr

Written by  Peter Burke
Climate Change Commission chair Dr Rod Carr. Climate Change Commission chair Dr Rod Carr.

The dairy industry is well placed to front the cost of new technologies to deal with methane emissions, but the sheep industry isn't.

That was one of the messages from the chair of the Climate Change Commission, Dr Rod Carr, a keynote speaker at last week's Agriculture and Climate Change conference in Wellington.

More than 400 delegates attended the two-day event and heard from a wide range of speakers on topics like market drivers for agricultural emissions reduction, investment in new technologies and the emission targets and tools to deal with them.

Carr says in the case of the dairy industry, it's likely that a solution will be found in the form of a vaccine or bolus to deal with methane emissions because of the profitability of that sector.

"If it costs $50 per animal a year to vaccinate or put a bolus or whatever down the down the gut of a cow, the dairy industry can afford that cost and still be profitable," Carr says.

But he says the same can't be said for the sheep and wool industry. He notes that with just under 25 million sheep, producing $4.4 billion worth of meat and wool, farmers are only getting about $180 in gross revenue per animal.

"Consequently, they don't have any margin to pay for methane emissions technology and I think this cost should be taken up and be paid within the dairy sector. I don't know how we get a methane technology that works for pastoral sheep farming in NZ that is affordable to farmers given the current value of the product they produce," he says.

Conversely, Carr says the dairy industry is more profitable in most ways in terms of methane emissions than sheep farmers, including per hectare of land, per hour of labour and gross revenue per hectare of land.

More like this

The politics of climate change

OPINION: The Financial Times, a major international newspaper, featured New Zealand on its front page at the beginning of June. It wasn't for the right reasons.

Featured

$52,500 fine for effluent mismanagement

A Taupiri farming company has been convicted and fined $52,500 in the Hamilton District Court for the unlawful discharge of dairy effluent into the environment.

Ospri brings Bovine TB testing in-house

The move to bring bovine TB testing in-house at Ospri officially started this month, as a team of 37 skilled and experienced technicians begin work with the disease eradication agency.

National

Machinery & Products

Fliegl offers effluent solutions

Founded in Germany as recently as 1977, today, the Fliegl Group employs more than 1100 workers, offering an expansive range…

» Latest Print Issues Online

Milking It

It's all about economics

OPINION: According to media reports, the eye-watering price of butter has prompted Finance Minister Nicola Willis to ask for a…

» Connect with Dairy News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter