Cows down
OPINION: It's not happening as fast as the greenies would like - they actually want all livestock other than Muscovy ducks and Tibetan Llamas to disappear entirely - but it is happening.
As farmers and tractors took to New Zealand’s motorways, towns and cities to protest the pricing of agricultural emissions, Stats NZ released the country’s quarterly greenhouse gas emissions figures.
The figures, which track the March 2022 quarter (January 2022 – March 2022), revealed the seasonally adjusted greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions had increased 1.7% on the previous quarter.
Agriculture, forestry and fishing saw the largest decrease, however, in emissions, down 0.8%.
Meanwhile, Stats NZ says electricity generation and manufacturing were the main culprit for the rise.
“One of the main sources of fluctuation in New Zealand’s total emissions is the variation in the energy sources used for electricity generation,” says Stats NZ environmental-economic accounts manager Stephen Oakley.
“The increase and then decrease in renewable share of electricity generation over the last two quarters has continued to create volatility in New Zealand’s overall production of emissions,” Oakley says.
Showcasing the huge range of new technologies and science that is now available was one of the highlights at last week's National Fieldays.
Coby Warmington, 29, a farm manager at Waima Topu Beef near Hokianga was named at the winner of the 2025 Ahuwhenua Young Maori Farmer Award for sheep and beef.
Northlanders scooped the pool at this year's prestigious Ahuwhenua Trophy Awards - winning both the main competition and the young Maori farmer award.
Red meat farmers are urging the Government to act on the growing number of whole sheep and beef farm sales for conversion to forestry, particularly carbon farming.
The days of rising on-farm inflation and subdued farmgate prices are coming to an end for farmers, helping lift confidence.
A blockbuster year and an exciting performance: that's how Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) Director General, Ray Smith is describing the massive upsurge in the fortunes of the primary sector exports for the year ended June 2025.
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