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.
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.
OPINION: Ministry for Primary Industries' situation outlook for primary industries report (SOPI) makes impressive reading.
Sheep and beef farmers Matt and Kristin Churchward say using artificial intelligence (AI) to spread fertiliser on their sprawling 630ha farm is a game changer for their business.
Commercial fruit and vegetable growers are being encouraged to cast their votes in the Horticulture New Zealand (HortNZ) board directors' election.
A unique discovery by a Palmerston North science company, Biolumic, looks set to revolutionise the value and potential of ryegrass and the secret is the application of ultraviolet (UV) light.
A New Zealand company is redefining the global collagen game by turning New Zealand sheepskin into a world-class health product.
With further extreme weather on the way, ANZ Bank is encouraging farmers and business owners impacted by the recent extreme weather and flooding to seek support if they need it.
OPINION: It's official, Fieldays 2025 clocked 110,000 visitors over the four days.
OPINION: The Federated Farmers rural advocacy hub at Fieldays has been touted as a great success.