Editorial: Great expectations
OPINION: As the new National-led coalition begins its term in office, there are high expectations that the promises and rhetoric of the election campaign will quickly be transformed into actions.
National's climate change spokesman Todd Muller has described as “absolute nonsense” the Government’s plan to make farmers start paying for agricultural emissions.
“To simply take the New Zealand agriculture sector, which is the world’s most emissions efficient food producing sector, and say that the future for that sector is to tax it, before there’s an opportunity to apply technology that hasn’t appeared yet, I think is nonsense,” Muller told TVNZ’s Q+A programme.
Muller says agriculture should not be included in the ETS. “That particular proposal looks to sheet that cost back to the sector at a manufacturing level,” he explained.
“The Interim Climate Committee itself said that if you actually wanted to drive change in an agricultural context you’d price emissions on farm, but that can’t be done at the moment.”
Muller says farmers don’t have the tools to be able to effectively measure their on farm emissions, and don’t have any tools to mitigate or reduce those on farm emissions.
He has “total confidence” that technology will be developed to mitigate the effects of climate change in the agricultural sector.
“You first of all measure, then you can manage. You apply innovation then you can change. I have total confidence that this technology will appear.”
Analysis by Dunedin-based Techion New Zealand shows the cost of undetected drench resistance in sheep has exploded to an estimated $98 million a year.
Shipping disruption caused by Houthi rebels in the Red Sea has so far not impacted fertiliser prices or supply on farm.
The opportunity to spend more time on farm while providing a dedicated service for shareholders attracted new environmental manager Ben Howden to work for Waimakariri Irrigation Limited (WIL).
Federated Farmers claims that the Otago Regional Council is charging ahead unnecessarily with piling more regulation on rural communities.
Dairy sheep and goat farmers are being told to reduce milk supply as processors face a slump in global demand for their products.
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