A 'five-star' plan

The plan would see on-farm sequestration recognised and agriculture kept out of the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS).

“National is committed to reaching Net Zero by 2050, but we believe New Zealand’s path to emission reductions in agriculture is through technology, not less production,” says National Party agriculture spokesperson Todd McClay.

“New Zealand farmers are among the most carbon efficient in the world,” he says. “However, currently there is no technology widely available in New Zealand to reduce methane emissions.”

McClay says that this means that, currently, any environmental costs lumped on farmers will push up food prices or send production overseas to higher-emitting countries.

“National will give farmers the tools they need to reduce emissions before charging them for their on-farm emissions – by 2030 at the latest,” he says.

The plan has been met with a mainly optimistic response, with Beef + Lamb NZ (B+LNZ) labelling it as ‘broadly positive’ and Federated Farmers calling it a ‘five-star’ plan.

B+LNZ chair Kate Acland says her organisation has been advocating for a focus on establishing a robust and credible measurement and reporting system for agricultural emissions, with a price introduced only if justified.

“So, we are pleased the National Party has listened to our perspective and insights on how farmers can best play their role in addressing climate change,” Acland says.

“Farmers have sent us a clear message that they are unhappy with the pricing proposal that the He Waka Eke Noa Primary Sector Climate Action Partnership put to Government last year,” she says, adding that the plan would have disproportionately impacted the viability of sheep and beef farmers.

“The carbon footprint of sheep and beef production is among the lowest in the world. Our sector has reduced its absolute emissions by over 30% since 1990 and we’re confident that as these new technologies come on board, we will continue to make further progress.” 

She says the levy body is encouraged by National’s policy.

“While there are some details that we need to better understand, we support the fundamental direction of the National Party policy. We need to slow down the unbridled conversion of whole farms into carbon farms in the short term while we work on how to amend the ETS,” Acland says.

Perhaps more cautious in their response, DairyNZ says the plan would give time to get the system right.

“We know that putting farming into the Emissions Trading Scheme will deliver poor outcomes for farmers, New Zealand and global targets if it exports production to less efficient countries,” says DairyNZ chair Jim van der Poel.

He says that both technologies and targets are a vital part of getting the system right and ensuring agriculture plays its part.

“Pricing was looked at to facilitate the necessary behaviour change. Pricing will only achieve outcomes if cost-effective tools and technology are available,” van der Poel says.

“Dairy farmers are already world-leading – because of that, we need to continue to invest in new technology and mitigation options to hold that position,” he says.

“We stand by the principles of a practical, fair and cost-effective framework for reducing agricultural greenhouse emissions at farm level and an alternative to the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme,” van der Poel says.

“We will support a pricing proposal that meets these principles and gives farmers access to the tools and technologies they need to reduce on-farm emissions.”

Meanwhile, Federated Farmers’ acting president Wayne Langford says his organisation is “really pleased” to see the National Party pick up on suggestions the farmer good organization has made in recent weeks.

“It shows that they’ve been listening to farmers’ concerns,” Langford says.

He says farmers would be particularly pleased to see a firm commitment to review methane reduction targets.

“Putting a price on emissions to drive blindly towards those targets would be absolutely devastating for farmers, rural communities and the New Zealand economy,” Langford says.

“We can’t just reduce emissions by farming less and planting productive farmland in trees - we need to be looking to new technologies whether that be methane inhibitors, vaccines or gene-editing.

“New Zealand farmers are committed to doing our bit to stop additional warming, but the policies that support emissions reductions need to be pragmatic, sensible and fair,” he says.