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.
Farmers should have their say on what the priorities should be for environmental reporting.
New Zealanders are being invited make submissions about proposed topics under the new national environmental reporting system.
"The Environmental Reporting Act passed by Parliament in September requires fair and accurate reports on the state of our environment," says Environment Minister Nick Smith.
"It means our country's clean, green brand will now be assessed against authoritative and independent data across five domains. Today we are calling for submissions on what New Zealanders think are the priorities for reporting across these domains."
The new Environmental Reporting Act requires the Secretary for the Environment and Statistics New Zealand to publish a report every six months on one of the five environmental domains (air, freshwater, land, marine, atmosphere and climate), beginning with freshwater in 2016.
A synthesis report, with analysis of all five domains, will be published every three years. The topics for future reports will be set in regulations under the Act.
Statistics Minister Craig Foss says the Government Statistician decides on the statistics used to measure the topics.
"Statistics New Zealand is world-leading, with sound credentials — it provides New Zealand with critical economic indicators such as GDP and CPI. It brings the same reputation for statistical integrity and independence to environmental reporting," Foss says.
"I encourage New Zealanders to make a submission on future topics for environmental reporting — your views will inform discussion and aid the decision-making process."
Newly appointed National Fieldays chief executive Richard Lindroos says his team is ready, excited and looking forward to delivering the four-day event next month.
More than 70 farmers from across the North and South Islands recently spent a dayand- a-half learning new business management and planning skills at Rabobank Ag Pathways Programmes held in Invercargill, Ashburton and Hawera.
Government ministers cannot miss the ‘SOS’ – save our sheep call - from New Zealand farmers.
A tax advisory specialist is hailing a 20% tax deduction to spur business asset purchases as a golden opportunity for agribusiness.
Sheep and beef farmers have voted to approve Beef + Lamb New Zealand signing an operational agreement between the agricultural sector and the Government on foot and mouth disease readiness and response.
The head of the New Zealand Kiwifruit Growers organisation NZKGI says the points raised in a report about the sector by Waikato University professor Frank Scrimgeour were not a surprise.
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