DairyNZ: Strong payouts offset high farm costs
The dairy sector is in a relatively stable position, with strong milk price payout forecasts continuing to offset ongoing high farm costs, according to DairyNZ.
Farmers groups are welcoming the Government’s decision to exempt agriculture from an Emissions Trade Scheme (ETS).
Beef + Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ) chair Kate Acland says they “have consistently argued that agriculture going into the ETS would be a disastrous outcome”.
“We welcome certainty about this being removed.”
Acland also welcomed the official disestablishment of the He Waka Eke Noa Primary Sector Climate Action Partnership.
“We withdrew our support for He Waka Eke Noa because of the significant impact this would have had on our farmers.
“While we are prepared to be part of a new group that discusses how to manage New Zealand’s agricultural emissions, any involvement will be with full transparency and discussion with our farmers. We will not allow this to be a repeat of the He Waka Eke Noa process.
“We are being very clear to the Government that our bottom line is that we do not support a price on agricultural emissions as a way of achieving reductions.
“Emissions reductions in the sheep and beef sector are already happening more quickly than needed.”
DairyNZ chair Jim van der Poel says the announcement is positive, following a huge amount of uncertainty for dairy farmers.
“New Zealand’s dairy farmers are among the world’s most GHG-efficient producers of milk, and inclusion in the NZ ETS could have shifted production to less-efficient producers offshore, hurting farmers, the economy and the country. That outcome would also increase global emissions,” he says.
“To remain internationally competitive, all paths forward must be grounded in a science-based approach. This will ensure a profitable and sustainable future for dairy – and for the rest of New Zealand.
“While there are currently no significant technologies to reduce methane emissions from New Zealand pastoral farms, our farmers continue to make strong progress towards measuring on-farm emissions, and we look forward to contributing to the government’s methane-reduction work. Methane emissions continue to reduce on-farm thanks to farmer action.”
Like many manufacturers around the world, European agricultural machinery and tractor manufacturers are currently operating in a difficult market environment. But they are heading to the world’s largest agricultural machinery event in Hanover next month with a degree of cautious optimism.
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Beef + Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ) is calling on farmers from all regions to take part in the final season of the Sheep Poo Study aiming to build a clearer picture of how facial eczema (FE) affects farms across New Zealand.
New Zealand is closer to eradicating bovine TB than ever before, but possums remain a threat, says Beef + Lamb New Zealand.
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has joined the debate around the proposed sale of Fonterra’s consumer and related businesses, demanding answers from the co-operative around its milk supply deal with the buyer, Lactalis.
The ACT Party says media reports that global dairy giant Nestle has withdrawn from the Dairy Methane Action Alliance shows why New Zealand needs to rethink its approach to climate.
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