Tuesday, 27 August 2024 10:55

Model to measure methane emissions needs to change

Written by  Peter Burke
Lockwood Smith wants a complete change in strategy for measuring methane emissions from animals. Lockwood Smith wants a complete change in strategy for measuring methane emissions from animals.

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.

More like this

No reason to demonise farming

OPINION: New Zealand has said it is going to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by ‘a lot’ and ‘in a short time’. One of those gases is methane. Our biggest producer of methane is livestock farming.

Bye bye Paris?

OPINION: At its recent annual general meeting, Federated Farmers’ Auckland province called for New Zealand to withdraw from the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.

Protest planned outside dairy awards venue

As the dairy industry prepares to celebrate its top achievers at an awards night this Saturday, attendees are being warned to be aware of protests planned outside the venue – Baypark Arena, Mount Mauganaui.

Inconvenient truth

OPINION: You would've missed this one if you rely on mainstream media for your news, but your old mate reckons credit should go where credit's due: Emissions by dairy cattle decreased by 1.6% according to the latest NZ Greenhouse Gas Inventory report.

Featured

LIC Space folds for good

Farmer co-operative LIC has closed its satellite-backed pasture measurement platform – Space.

Editorial: Time for common sense

OPINION: The case of four Canterbury high country stations facing costly and complex consent hearing processes highlights the dilemma facing the farming sector as the country transitions into a replacement for the Resource Management Act (RMA).

National

Machinery & Products

Calf feeding boost

Advantage Plastics says it is revolutionising calf meal storage and handling, making farm life easier, safer, and more efficient this…

JD's precision essentials

Farmers across New Zealand are renowned for their productivity and efficiency, always wanting to do more with less, while getting…

» Latest Print Issues Online

The Hound

Are they serious?

OPINION: The Greens aren’t serious people when it comes to the economy, so let’s not spend too much on their…

A hurry up!

OPINION: PM Chris Luxon is getting pinged lately for rolling out the old 'we're still a new government' line when…

» Connect with Rural News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter