Farmer warns of hidden risks from forestry neighbours
Farmers who find the land next to them is about to be converted into forestry, face potential damage and costly consequences.
OPINION: Forests planted for carbon credits are permanently locking up NZ’s landscapes, and could land us with more carbon costs, says the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment (PCE).
The new report, Alt-F Reset: Examining the drivers of forestry in New Zealand, says that Radiata pine is really the only economical tree for carbon farming.
However, it could leave the Crown with future carbon liabilities if they’re damaged by pests, disease, fire or extreme weather events.
Even climate scientists are anti-Pine, one saying “the PCE, Simon Upton, is uniquely qualified to provide impartial strategic guidance on New Zealand Forests. We should be deeply grateful for this as climate virtue signaling and perverse carbon incentives threaten to radically change our classic rural landscapes in a widespread and visually jarring fashion”
The key takeaway from the PCE’s advice is ‘no to carbon forestry’.
With production volumes contracting in most major beef-producing regions, global cattle prices have continued to rise across recent months.
The 2025 Young Grower of the Year, Phoebe Scherer, says competing with other finalists felt more like being among friends.
A windfall of billions of dollars is good news for the agricultural sector and the economy in general, following the sale of Fonterra's global consumer businesses.
Superphosphate is still the go-to product for New Zealand farmers looking for spring growth, says Mike White, Ravensdown’s head of product and service development.
Carbon farming is threatening the economy of the central North Island, according to Federated Farmers Whanganui president Ben Fraser.
Farmers who find the land next to them is about to be converted into forestry, face potential damage and costly consequences.
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