It's all about economics
OPINION: According to media reports, the eye-watering price of butter has prompted Finance Minister Nicola Willis to ask for a 'please explain' from her former employer Fonterra.
While greenhouse gas emissions are up, according to the latest statistics, agriculture, forestry and fishery saw a significant decrease in emissions.
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.
Oamaru-based livestock handling specialist Te Pari has bought Combi Clamp, the New Zealand manufacturer of Combi Clamp manual sheep handlers.
Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has admitted that a scheme bringing workers from Pacific nations to work on orchards has become too hard to navigate but says changes are coming.
A new app designed in New Zealand aims to help sheep, beef and deer farmers capture, analyse and use body condition score data more effectively.
Canterbury farmer Andy Macfarlane has been appointed to the board of AgriZeroNZ, the public-private partnership designed to accelerate the development and deployment of emissions reduction tools for New Zealand farmers.
For over 50 years Mel Ewers has been supporting the apple sector navigate through compliance and quality assurance issues.
The apple sector is enjoying a bumper harvest season.

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