Ruminant Biotech aims to equip 100 million cows with Emitless methane-reducing tech
New Zealand's Ruminant Biotech says that while it has big goals, the scale of the problem it seeks to solve requires it.
Farmer and former politician Sir Lockwood Smith is questioning the way that methane emissions from livestock are measured in NZ.
Smith, respected as an agricultural scientist, farmer and politician, says the present system of measuring methane emissions by way of an accounting target approach is wrong. He says no one questions the need for emissions to be reduced, but he says the present system will one day end in tears.
"What needs to happen is a complete change in strategy internationally for methane emissions from animals, with the focus being on the 'carbon efficiency' of the food that we produce," he told Rural News.
Smith says NZ has got to start lobbying the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to start looking at food production differently. He says shifting the focus to the carbon efficiency of food being produced and ensuring it's produced in the most carbon efficient way will benefit climate change. "Even if NZ alone decided to change the focus to carbon efficiency in food, this would make little difference. What NZ must do is get out there and influence global thinking on the subject and get buy-in from other countries," he says.
According to Smith, some of the solutions being proposed for reducing methane in our livestock - such as vaccines and boluses - are not as good as they sound. He points to the problem that worms in animals are developing resistance to drenches and believes the same could happen with things like vaccines.
He says NZ has ways of farming that are so much more efficient and notes that the big challenge in carbon efficiency is to make sure that more of what a ruminant animal consumes goes into production compared to the maintenance of the animals' body.
"That's what delivers efficiency," he says.
One way of improving carbon efficiency on NZ farms says Smith is to slaughter beef animals much sooner than we do. He says now too many 'old' animals are being slaughtered and keeping a cattle beast for three years is not workable if you want to increase carbon efficiency.
"Why not slaughter a beast at 18 months? That would make a huge improvement on carbon efficiency," he says.
Newly elected Federated Farmers meat and wool group chair Richard Dawkins says he will continue the great work done his predecessor Toby Williams.
Hosted by ginger dynamo Te Radar, the Fieldays Innovation Award Winners Event put the spotlight on the agricultural industry's most promising ideas.
According to DairyNZ's latest Econ Tracker update, there has been a rise in the forecast breakeven milk price for the 2025/26 season.
Despite the rain and a liberal coating of mud, engines roared, and the 50th Fieldays Tractor Pull Competition drew crowds of spectators across the four days of the annual event.
Nationwide rural wellbeing programme, Farmstrong recently celebrated its tenth birthday at Fieldays with an event attended by ambassador Sam Whitelock, Farmers Mutual Group (FMG), Farmstrong partners, and government Ministers.
Six industry organisations, including DairyNZ and the Dairy Companies Association (DCANZ) have signed an agreement with the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) to prepare the country for a potential foot and mouth outbreak.
OPINION: ACT MP Mark Cameron isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but he certainly calls it how he sees it, holding…
OPINION: Did former PM Jacinda Ardern get fawning reviews for her book?