MPI’s Diana Reaich: Building global trade relationships
Relationships are key to opening new trading opportunities and dealing with some of the rules that countries impose that impede the free flow of trade.
The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) is on the hunt for research proposals to help improve New Zealand’s reporting of greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture, forestry, and other land uses.
The annual funding round for the Greenhouse Gas Inventory Research (GHGIR) fund is now open, with $8.9 million available over the next three years for new GHGIR projected.
The annual Greenhouse Gas Inventory reports on human-induced emissions and removals of greenhouse gases for energy, industrial processes, agriculture, land use, land-use change and forestry, and waste.
Steve Penno, MPI’s director investment programmes, says the GHGIR is focused on improving MPI’s knowledge of New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions, to ensure the best possible data is available to manage emissions and inform policy decisions.
“This year we’re looking for very specific proposals in 10 priority areas, ranging from modelling variations in dairy cattle body weight to wetland mapping,” Penno says.
“The outcomes will inform MPI’s reporting to the New Zealand Greenhouse Gas Inventory and the United Nations under the Paris Climate Agreement.”
Applications close on 19 July 2023, with successful proposals expected to be announced in October.
BNZ says it is backing aspiring dairy farmers through an innovative new initiative that helps make the first step to farm ownership or sharemilking a little easier.
LIC chief executive David Chin says meeting the revised methane reduction targets will rely on practical science, smart technology, and genuine collaboration across the sector.
Lincoln University Dairy Farm will be tweaking some management practices after an animal welfare complaint laid in mid-August, despite the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) investigation into the complaint finding no cause for action.
A large slice of the $3.2 billion proposed capital return for Fonterra farmer shareholders could end up with the banks.
Opening a new $3 million methane research barn in Waikato this month, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay called on the dairy sector to “go as fast as you can and prove the concepts”.
New Zealand’s trade with the European Union has jumped $2 billion since a free trade deal entered into force in May last year.

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