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.
So says Dr Harry Clark, director of the New Zealand Greenhouse Gas Research Centre (NZAGRC) and a member of the Interim Climate Change Committee (ICCC).
He says the new website www.farmingmatters.nz, recently launched by NZAGRC, will equip farmers and rural professionals to assess and manage on farm emissions and adapt to a changing environment.
The website initially focuses on methane, which makes up 70% of NZ’s agricultural emissions. And it will soon cover nitrous oxide and strategies for adapting to climate change.
“Methane belched out by ruminant livestock such as cows and sheep is a problem for NZ,” Clark says.
Researchers in NZ and overseas are investigating technologies that might help to reduce methane emissions by livestock.
Methanogen vaccines and inhibitors are also under development to try to cut methane emissions by 30%.
New formulations and alternative products are being investigated.
But until such technologies are available Clark says farmers can look to cut emissions by small improvements in every aspect of their operation.
Clark says there’s no one-size-fits-all solution. Instead individual farmers can best figure out how they might cut their farms’ emissions without harming profits.
